Factorial Difference-in-Differences

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Xu, Yiqing, Zhao, Anqi, Ding, Peng
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Xu, Yiqing
Zhao, Anqi
Ding, Peng
author_facet Xu, Yiqing
Zhao, Anqi
Ding, Peng
contents We formulate factorial difference-in-differences (FDID), a research design that extends canonical difference-in-differences (DID) to settings in which an event affects all units. In many panel data applications, researchers exploit cross-sectional variation in a baseline factor alongside temporal variation in the event, but the corresponding estimand is often implicit and the justification for applying the DID estimator remains unclear. We frame FDID as a factorial design with two factors, the baseline factor $G$ and the exposure level $Z$, and define effect modification and causal moderation as the associative and causal effects of $G$ on the effect of $Z$, respectively. Under standard DID assumptions of no anticipation and parallel trends, the DID estimator identifies effect modification but not causal moderation. Identifying the latter requires an additional \emph{factorial parallel trends} assumption, that is, mean independence between $G$ and potential outcome trends. We extend the framework to conditionally valid assumptions and regression-based implementations, and further to repeated cross-sectional data and continuous $G$. We demonstrate the framework with an empirical application on the role of social capital in famine relief in China.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_11937
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Factorial Difference-in-Differences
Xu, Yiqing
Zhao, Anqi
Ding, Peng
Methodology
Econometrics
We formulate factorial difference-in-differences (FDID), a research design that extends canonical difference-in-differences (DID) to settings in which an event affects all units. In many panel data applications, researchers exploit cross-sectional variation in a baseline factor alongside temporal variation in the event, but the corresponding estimand is often implicit and the justification for applying the DID estimator remains unclear. We frame FDID as a factorial design with two factors, the baseline factor $G$ and the exposure level $Z$, and define effect modification and causal moderation as the associative and causal effects of $G$ on the effect of $Z$, respectively. Under standard DID assumptions of no anticipation and parallel trends, the DID estimator identifies effect modification but not causal moderation. Identifying the latter requires an additional \emph{factorial parallel trends} assumption, that is, mean independence between $G$ and potential outcome trends. We extend the framework to conditionally valid assumptions and regression-based implementations, and further to repeated cross-sectional data and continuous $G$. We demonstrate the framework with an empirical application on the role of social capital in famine relief in China.
title Factorial Difference-in-Differences
topic Methodology
Econometrics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.11937