What Makes a Great Synthetic Control Study? Guidance from theory, planning, and experience.

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

We propose a round-table session with a focus on the advantages, limitations, and pitfalls with synthetic control studies of public policies, programs, and interventions. The panel brings together three complementary papers and their authors to discuss the nuts and bolts of designing, executing, and interpreting high-quality synthetic control (SC) analyses. The panelists will aim to move beyond the substantive results of their particular study in order to explain the how and why behind key methodological decisions. We will then open the floor for a guided discussion of general principles, confusing details, and emerging frontiers in SC applications.

The goal is for the round table to improve people’s understanding of the decision points that matter most in synthetic control studies—how to justify data choices, diagnose threats, and quantify uncertainty—so that policy evaluations using synthetic controls can be both rigorous and credible. We hope the panel will be helpful to people who are (i) conducting synthetic control studies, (ii) reading synthetic control studies in their area, (iii) reviewing synthetic control studies for peer reviewed journals.

Policy Area

• Methods and Tools of Analysis

Moderator

• Daniel Dench, Georgia Institute of Technology

Organizer

• Jennifer A Mangano, Indiana University

Speakers

• Jesse Rothstein, University of California, Berkeley

• Coady Wing, Indiana University

• Jaume Vives-i-Bastida, Stanford University

• Luis A. F. Alvarez, University of São Paulo