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Main Author: Caro-Burnett, Johann
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.12504
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author Caro-Burnett, Johann
author_facet Caro-Burnett, Johann
contents Standard instrumental variables (IV) methods identify a Local Average Treatment Effect under monotonicity, which rules out defiers. In many empirical environments, however, distinct instruments may induce heterogeneous and even opposing behavioral responses. This paper introduces the Difference-in-Instrumental-Variables (DIIV) estimand, which exploits two instruments with opposing compliance patterns to recover a point-identified and behaviorally interpretable causal effect without imposing monotonicity. The estimand yields a convex combination of the marginal treatment effects on compliers and defiers, with weights reflecting differential shifts in treatment take-up across instruments. When monotonicity holds, DIIV coincides with the standard IV estimand. The approach can be implemented using simple linear transformations and standard two-stage least squares procedures. Applications using replication data illustrate its applicability in practice.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_12504
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Toggling the Defiers to Relax Monotonicity: The Difference-in-Instrumental-Variables Estimand
Caro-Burnett, Johann
Econometrics
Standard instrumental variables (IV) methods identify a Local Average Treatment Effect under monotonicity, which rules out defiers. In many empirical environments, however, distinct instruments may induce heterogeneous and even opposing behavioral responses. This paper introduces the Difference-in-Instrumental-Variables (DIIV) estimand, which exploits two instruments with opposing compliance patterns to recover a point-identified and behaviorally interpretable causal effect without imposing monotonicity. The estimand yields a convex combination of the marginal treatment effects on compliers and defiers, with weights reflecting differential shifts in treatment take-up across instruments. When monotonicity holds, DIIV coincides with the standard IV estimand. The approach can be implemented using simple linear transformations and standard two-stage least squares procedures. Applications using replication data illustrate its applicability in practice.
title Toggling the Defiers to Relax Monotonicity: The Difference-in-Instrumental-Variables Estimand
topic Econometrics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.12504