Methoden vergleichen

	Placebo-Test zur Politikbewertung	Instrumentalvariablen-Methode (IV) zur Kausalinferenz
Fachgebiet	Kausale Inferenz	Gesundheitsökonomie
Familie	Regression model	Process / pipeline
Entstehungsjahr	1990s–2000s	1990s (modern applications)
Urheber	Bertrand, Duflo & Mullainathan (2004 canonical formalization); Imbens & Wooldridge (2009 textbook treatment)	Angrist & Pischke (applied econometrics); rooted in econometric theory
Typ	Falsification / specification check	Method
Wegweisende Quelle	Imbens, G. W., & Wooldridge, J. M. (2009). Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(1), 5-86.	Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J. S. (2009). Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Aliasnamen	placebo test, falsification test, fake treatment test, placebo regression	IV, two-stage least squares, TSLS, causal estimation
Verwandt	4	3
Zusammenfassung	A policy evaluation placebo test is a falsification check used in quasi-experimental research to validate a causal identification strategy. The researcher applies the same estimation method to a pseudo-treatment — a time period, group, or outcome where the real policy could not have had an effect — and checks that no spurious effect is detected. A null placebo result builds confidence that the main estimate reflects a genuine causal impact rather than bias or confounding.	Instrumental variables (IV) is an econometric method to estimate causal effects when treatment or exposure is not randomly assigned and confounding is severe or unmeasured. IV relies on a third variable (instrument) that influences treatment but does not directly affect the outcome, allowing researchers to isolate the causal effect from the noise of confounding. Developed extensively in econometrics (Angrist & Pischke, 1990s–2000s), IV methods are increasingly used in health economics and health services research to leverage natural experiments and policy changes.