journal article Open Access Aug 17, 2023

Placebo Tests for Causal Inference

View at Publisher Save 10.1111/ajps.12818
Abstract
AbstractPlacebo tests are increasingly common in applied social science research, but the methodological literature has not previously offered a comprehensive account of what we learn from them. We define placebo tests as tools for assessing the plausibility of the assumptions underlying a research design relative to some departure from those assumptions. We offer a typology of tests defined by the aspect of the research design that is altered to produce it (outcome, treatment, or population) and the type of assumption that is tested (bias assumptions or distributional assumptions). Our formal framework clarifies the extra assumptions necessary for informative placebo tests; these assumptions can be strong, and in some cases similar assumptions would justify a different procedure allowing the researcher to relax the research design's assumptions rather than test them. Properly designed and interpreted, placebo tests can be an important device for assessing the credibility of empirical research designs.
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Cited By
131
International Journal of Managerial...
International Review of Economics &...
Metrics
131
Citations
43
References
Details
Published
Aug 17, 2023
Vol/Issue
68(3)
Pages
1106-1121
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Cite This Article
Andrew C. Eggers, Guadalupe Tuñón, Allan Dafoe (2023). Placebo Tests for Causal Inference. American Journal of Political Science, 68(3), 1106-1121. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12818
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