Overlap in observational studies with high-dimensional covariates

• Published in: Journal of econometrics Vol. 221; no. 2; pp. 644 - 654
• Main Authors: D’Amour, Alexander, Ding, Peng, Feller, Avi, Lei, Lihua, Sekhon, Jasjeet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.04.2021; Elsevier Science Publishers; Elsevier Sequoia S.A
• Subjects: Asymptotic methods; Causal inference; Causality; Curse of dimensionality; Discrepancies; econometric models; economic analysis; economic theory; Imbalance; Information theory; Innovations; mathematical theory; Observational studies; Overlap; researchers; Sparsity; Statistics; Causal inference; Curse of dimensionality; Overlap; Information theory

Estimating causal effects under exogeneity hinges on two key assumptions: unconfoundedness and overlap. Researchers often argue that unconfoundedness is more plausible when more covariates are included in the analysis. Less discussed is the fact that covariate overlap is more difficult to satisfy in...