Regression Discontinuity Designs: A Guide to Practice

   (288 K)

In Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs for evaluating causal effects of interventions, assignment to a treatment is determined at least partly by the value of an observed covariate lying on either side of a fixed threshold. These designs were first introduced in the evaluation literature by Thistlewaite and Campbell (1960). With the exception of a few unpublished theoretical papers, these methods did not attract much attention in the economics literature until recently. Starting in the late 1990s, there has been a large number of studies in economics applying and extending RD methods. In this paper we review some of the practical and theoretical issues involved in the implementation of RD methods.

Published: Imbens, Guido and Thomas Lemieux. “Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice.” Journal of Econometrics 142, 2 (2008): 615-635.

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