Sensitivity Analysis for Instrumental Variables Under Joint Relaxations of Monotonicity and Independence

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteur principal: Picchetti, Pedro
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Picchetti, Pedro
author_facet Picchetti, Pedro
contents In this paper I develop a breakdown frontier approach to assess the sensitivity of Local Average Treatment Effects (LATE) estimates to violations of monotonicity and independence of the instrument. I parametrize violations of independence using the concept of $c$-dependence from Masten & Poirier (2018) and allow for the share of defiers to be greater than zero but smaller than the share of compliers. I derive identified sets for the LATE and the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) in which the bounds are functions of these two sensitivity parameters. Using these bounds, I derive the breakdown frontier for the LATE, which is the weakest set of assumptions such that a conclusion regarding the LATE holds. I derive consistent sample analogue estimators for the breakdown frontiers and provide a valid bootstrap procedure for inference. Monte Carlo simulations show the desirable finite-sample properties of the estimators and an empirical application shows that the conclusions regarding the effect of family size on unemployment from Angrist & Evans (1998) are highly sensitive to violations of independence and monotonicity.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_25529
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sensitivity Analysis for Instrumental Variables Under Joint Relaxations of Monotonicity and Independence
Picchetti, Pedro
Econometrics
Methodology
In this paper I develop a breakdown frontier approach to assess the sensitivity of Local Average Treatment Effects (LATE) estimates to violations of monotonicity and independence of the instrument. I parametrize violations of independence using the concept of $c$-dependence from Masten & Poirier (2018) and allow for the share of defiers to be greater than zero but smaller than the share of compliers. I derive identified sets for the LATE and the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) in which the bounds are functions of these two sensitivity parameters. Using these bounds, I derive the breakdown frontier for the LATE, which is the weakest set of assumptions such that a conclusion regarding the LATE holds. I derive consistent sample analogue estimators for the breakdown frontiers and provide a valid bootstrap procedure for inference. Monte Carlo simulations show the desirable finite-sample properties of the estimators and an empirical application shows that the conclusions regarding the effect of family size on unemployment from Angrist & Evans (1998) are highly sensitive to violations of independence and monotonicity.
title Sensitivity Analysis for Instrumental Variables Under Joint Relaxations of Monotonicity and Independence
topic Econometrics
Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.25529