Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/80913 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2013/082
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
The fundamental problem of external validity is not to generalize from one experiment, so much as to experimentally test generalizable theories. That is, theories that explain the systematic variation of causal effects across contexts. Here we show how the graphical language of causal diagrams can be used in this endeavour. Specifically we show how generalization is a causal problem, how a causal approach is more robust than a purely predictive one, and how causal diagrams can be adapted to convey partial parametric information about interactions.
Subjects: 
generalized causal inference
external validity
causal diagrams
policy experiments
non-parametric methods
econometric methodology
JEL: 
B0
C1
C18
C99
ISBN: 
978-92-9230-659-5
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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