Regression Discontinuity Designs
in Development Economics
Bruno Conte | bruno.conte@bse.eu | Course GitHub
repo here
Barcelona School of Economics
Day 1. Introduction to RDD, applications in economics, and brush
up
Revision of causal inference, selection into observables, and
policy (causal) evaluation
Overview of RDD methods and applications in (development)
economics
Lecture slides here
and practical material here
Day 2. Sharp RD Designs (1/2)
Overview, theory, and assumptions of Continuity-based RD
Designs
The local nature of estimates and graphical evidence of
discontinuities
Estimation of RD with local polynomial approximations
Lecture slides here
and practical material here
Day 3. Sharp RD (2/2) and Fuzzy RD Designs
Validating RD Designs: density tests, falsification tests,
placebo, and others
Fuzzy RD: overview, assumptions, and interpreting (fuzzy) RD as
an IV
Additional assumptions and tests, (distinct) estimation nature
and interpretation (LATE)
Lecture slides here
and practical material here
Day 4. Multi-score RD Designs and Spatial RD Designs
Overview and assumptions: Multi-score RD
Spatial RD designs as multi-score design
Additional (practical) aspects of spatial RDDs (e.g.,
geographical distances, buffers)
Lecture slides here
and practical material here
Day 5. Additional RDD methods
Local Randomization RD Designs
RDD with discrete running variables
Multi-cutoff RD Designs
Lecture slides here
and practical material here
References
Cattaneo, M.D., Idrobo, N. and Titiunik, R., 2019. A practical
introduction to regression discontinuity designs: Foundations.
Cambridge University Press.
Cattaneo, M.D., Idrobo, N. and Titiunik, R., 2023. A practical
introduction to regression discontinuity designs: Extensions. arXiv
preprint arXiv:2301.08958.