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Causal Analysis in Population Research: An Economist's Perspective
Author(s) -
Moffitt Robert
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
population and development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.836
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1728-4457
pISSN - 0098-7921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2003.00448.x
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , pessimism , causal analysis , positive economics , population , causal model , causal inference , field (mathematics) , reading (process) , sociology , estimation , epistemology , psychology , economics , econometrics , political science , demography , law , philosophy , computer science , mathematics , statistics , management , artificial intelligence , pure mathematics
The problem of determining cause and effect is one of the oldest questions in the social sciences. This note provides a perspective on the analysis of causal relationships in population research, drawing upon recent discussions in the field of economics. Within economics, thinking about causal estimation has shifted markedly in the last decade toward a more pessimistic reading of what is possible and a retreat in the ambitiousness of claims of causal determination. The framework that underlies this conclusion is presented, methods for isolating causal effects are discussed, and an example from the field of population research is given.