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  4. June 2010
  5. Building Bridges between Structural and Program Evaluation Approaches to Evaluating Policy

Journal of Economic Literature

ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)

Building Bridges between Structural and Program Evaluation Approaches to Evaluating Policy

  • James J. Heckman
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 48, no. 2, June 2010
(pp. 356–98)
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Abstract

This paper compares the structural approach to economic policy analysis with the program evaluation approach. It offers a third way to do policy analysis that combines the best features of both approaches. I illustrate the value of this alternative approach by making the implicit economics of LATE explicit, thereby extending the interpretability and range of policy questions that LATE can answer. (JEL C21, E61)

Citation

Heckman, James J. 2010. "Building Bridges between Structural and Program Evaluation Approaches to Evaluating Policy." Journal of Economic Literature, 48 (2): 356–98. DOI: 10.1257/jel.48.2.356

JEL Classification

  • C21 Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions
  • E61 Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination