Additional Topics for Causal Inference

class: center, middle, inverse, title-slide

# Additional Topics for Causal Inference
## ITAM Short Workshop
### Zhe Zhang, Mathew Kiang, Monica Alexander
### March 16, 2017

---

name: inverse
layout: true
class: center, middle, inverse

---
# Additional Topics

- structural econometric modeling

---
# Theory is Important Always

- important even in the more simple applied micro setting
- useful sometimes when it's impossible to create a quasi-experimental setting

---
# Case Study: Gentzkow (AER, 2011)

- Effect of new goods on demand for existing goods? 
  - e.g., online news effect on existing physical newspaper demands? how would charging for online content affect physical sales?
  - e.g., radio airplay on record sales?
  - e.g., file-sharing and live concert revenues?
  - e.g., benefit of free-samples?

---
# Existing Structural Models

- discrete-choice demand models (<- utility choice theory)
  - assumes that individuals can only choose one good though
- Gentzkow demand model to allow "consumers to choose multiple goods simultaneously and allows the demand-side relationship between each pair of products to be freely estimated from the data"

---
# Walk Through Simple Structural Model

---
# Sources

- Mostly Harmless Econometrics
- Osea Giuntella, slides
- Todd Gormley, slides