13.4 Estimation: Continuity-Based Approach
- Uses nonparametric methods to approximate the unknown regression functions
- Assumption: Continuity = continuous around the cutoff
- Relies on extrapolation: We use observations near x0 to infer the effect exactly at x0
- Local polynomial point estimation: Estimate regression functions within bandwith (around score)
- This estimation approach is nonparametric because it does not assume a particular parametric form of the regression functions (just fit a curve to the data)
- See Skovron and Titiunik (2015), 13-14 for steps.
References
Skovron, Christopher, and Rocıo Titiunik. 2015. “A Practical Guide to Regression Discontinuity Designs in Political Science.”