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Université de Fribourg

Independent and competing agencies : An effective way to control government

Schelker, Mark ; Eichenberger, Reiner

In: Public Choice, 2007, vol. 130, p. 79-98

Controlling government is a primary focus of the politico-economic literature. Recently, various political institutions have been analyzed from this perspective, most importantly balanced budget rules, fiscal federalism, and direct democracy. However, one type of institution has been neglected so far: elected competitors to the government. Such institutional competition between the government...

Université de Fribourg

Direct and Indirect Effects based on Changes-in-Changes

Huber, Martin ; Schelker, Mark ; Strittmatter, Anthony

In: Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 2019, p. 1-60

We propose a novel approach for causal mediation analysis based on changesin- changes assumptions restricting unobserved heterogeneity over time. This allows disentangling the causal effect of a binary treatment on a continuous outcome into an indirect effect operating through a binary intermediate variable (called mediator) and a direct effect running via other causal mechanisms. We identify...

Université de Fribourg

Nonparametric estimation of natural direct and indirect effects based on inverse probability weighting

Huber, Martin ; Yu-Chin, Hsu ; Tsung-Chih, Lai

In: Journal of Econometric Methods, 2019, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 1-20

Using a sequential conditional independence assumption, this paper discusses fully nonparametric estimation of natural direct and indirect causal effects in causal mediation analysis based on inverse probability weighting. We propose estimators of the average indirect effect of a binary treatment, which operates through intermediate variables (or mediators) on the causal path between the...

Université de Fribourg

Direct and Indirect Effects Based on Difference-in-Differences With an Application to Political Preferences Following the Vietnam Draft Lottery

Deuchert, Eva ; Huber, Martin ; Schelker, Mark

In: Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 2019, vol. 37, no. 4, p. 710-720

We propose a difference-in-differences approach for disentangling a total treatment effect within specific subpopulations into a direct effect and an indirect effect operating through a binary mediating variable. Random treatment assignment along with specific common trend and effect homogeneity assumptions identify the direct effects on the always and never takers, whose mediator is not...

Université de Fribourg

Auditors and fiscal policy: Empirical evidence on a little big institution

Schelker, Mark ; Eichenberger, Reiner

In: Journal of Comparative Economics, 2010, vol. 38, no. 4, p. 357-380

Various political institutions designed to control the government have been analyzed in the academic literature. However, an important institution has been neglected so far: independent auditing institutions with an extended mandate to audit the budget draft and individual policy proposals. We argue that such auditors improve transparency and provide essential information on the impact of policy...

Université de Fribourg

Gender differences in wage expectations

Fernandes, Ana ; Huber, Martin ; Vaccaro, Giannina

(Working Papers SES ; 516)

Using a survey on wage expectations among students at two Swiss institutions of higher education, we examine the wage expectations of our respondents along two main lines. First, we investigate the rationality of wage expectations by comparing average expected wages from our sample with those of similar graduates; we further examine how our respondents revise their expectations when provided...

Université de Fribourg

Causal mediation analysis with double machine learning

Farbmacher, Helmut ; Huber, Martin ; Langen, Henrika ; Spindler, Martin

(Working Papers SES ; 515)

This paper combines causal mediation analysis with double machine learning to control for observed confounders in a data-driven way under a selection-on- observables assumption in a high-dimensional setting. We consider the average indirect effect of a binary treatment operating through an intermediate variable (or mediator) on the causal path between the treatment and the outcome, as well as...

Université de Fribourg

Bounds on direct and indirect effects under treatment/mediator endogeneity and outcome attrition

Huber, Martin ; Lafférs, Lukáš

(Working Papers SES ; 514)

Causal mediation analysis aims at disentangling a treatment effect into an indirect mechanism operating through an intermediate outcome or mediator, as well as the direct effect of the treatment on the outcome of interest. However, the evaluation of direct and indirect effects is frequently complicated by non-ignorable selection into the treatment and/or mediator, even after controlling for...

Université de Fribourg

Direct and indirect effects based on changes-in-changes

Huber, Martin ; Schelker, Mark ; Strittmatter, Anthony

(Working Papers SES ; 508)

We propose a novel approach for causal mediation analysis based on changes-in- changes assumptions restricting unobserved heterogeneity over time. This allows disentangling the causal effect of a binary treatment on a continuous outcome into an indirect effect operating through a binary intermediate variable (called mediator) and a direct effect running via other causal mechanisms. We...

Université de Fribourg

A review of causal mediation analysis for assessing direct and indirect treatment effects

Huber, Martin

(Working Papers SES ; 500)

Mediation analysis aims at evaluating the causal mechanisms through which a treatment or intervention affects an outcome of interest. The goal is to disentangle the total treatment effect into an indirect effect operating through one or several observed intermediate variables, the so-called mediators, as well as a direct effect reflecting any impact not captured by the observed mediator(s)....