Geographic difference-in-discontinuities

A recent econometric literature has critiqued the use of regression discontinuities where administrative borders serve as the 'cutoff'. Identification in this context is difficult since multiple treatments can change at the cut-off and individuals can easily sort on either side of the border. This note extends the difference-in-discontinuities framework discussed in Grembi et al. (2016) to a geographic setting. This paper formalizes the identifying assumptions in this context, which will allow for the removal of time-invariant sorting and multiple treatments similar to the difference-in-differences methodology.

Automated summary

This paper extends the difference-in-discontinuities framework to a geographic setting and formalizes the identifying assumptions in this context, allowing for the elimination of time-invariant sorting and multiple treatments.