Research

Publications

Truncated History Framework for Synthetic Control Approaches

Economics Letters

Co-authors: Bart Golsteyn, Chris van Klaveren, Ilja Cornelisz, Tom Stolp

Abstract:

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We introduce the Truncated History (TH) framework for synthetic control approaches, which excludes pretreatment periods. The in-time placebo test fits within TH as right-truncation, removing final pretreatment periods. While useful, it may over-rely on early pretreatment data, potentially undermining robustness. To address this, we propose a left-truncation strategy, the left-TH robustness check, which iteratively excludes the earliest pretreatment periods and re-estimates effects. Stable results support credibility, while instability suggests that interval estimates may be more appropriate. TH provides robustness for pretreatment horizons and helps identify stable models, which we demonstrate on the California tobacco program of Abadie et al. (2010).

Working Papers:

Targeted Tuition Subsidies and Teacher Supply: Evidence from a Dutch Reform

Co-authors: Bart Golsteyn, Chris van Klaveren, Ilja Cornelisz, Tom Stolp

Student Effort and Multitasking under Graduation Constraints

Co-authors: Bart Golsteyn, Chris van Klaveren, Ilja Cornelisz

Identification in Repeated Panel Data