Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Human Resources
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • My Cart
Journal of Human Resources

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • Connect
    • Feedback
    • Help
    • Request JHR at your library
  • Alerts
  • Free Issue
  • Special Issue
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
  • Follow JHR on Bluesky
Research ArticleSymposium on Empirical Methods

What Are We Weighting For?

Gary Solon, Steven J. Haider and Jeffrey M. Wooldridge
Journal of Human Resources, March 2015, 50 (2) 301-316; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.50.2.301
Gary Solon
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Steven J. Haider
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jeffrey M. Wooldridge
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

When estimating population descriptive statistics, weighting is called for if needed to make the analysis sample representative of the target population. With regard to research directed instead at estimating causal effects, we discuss three distinct weighting motives: (1) to achieve precise estimates by correcting for heteroskedasticity; (2) to achieve consistent estimates by correcting for endogenous sampling; and (3) to identify average partial effects in the presence of unmodeled heterogeneity of effects. In each case, we find that the motive sometimes does not apply in situations where practitioners often assume it does.

  • Received February 2013.
  • Accepted September 2013.
View Full Text

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Human Resources: 50 (2)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 50, Issue 2
31 Mar 2015
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Human Resources.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
What Are We Weighting For?
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Human Resources
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Human Resources web site.
Citation Tools
What Are We Weighting For?
Gary Solon, Steven J. Haider, Jeffrey M. Wooldridge
Journal of Human Resources Mar 2015, 50 (2) 301-316; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.50.2.301

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
What Are We Weighting For?
Gary Solon, Steven J. Haider, Jeffrey M. Wooldridge
Journal of Human Resources Mar 2015, 50 (2) 301-316; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.50.2.301
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • I. Introduction
    • II. What Are We Trying to Estimate?
    • III. Correcting for Heteroskedasticity
    • IV. Correcting for Endogenous Sampling
    • V. Identifying Average Partial Effects
    • VI. Summary and General Recommendations for Empirical Practice
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Safeguarding Consumers Through Minimum Quality Standards: Milk Inspections and Urban Mortality in the United States, 1880-1910
  • COVID-19 Restrictions Reduced Abortion Clinic Visits, Even in Blue States
  • Childhood Confidence, Schooling, and the Labor Market: Evidence from the PSID
  • Examining the relationship between incidence and mortality for commonly diagnosed cancers in the USA: an observational study using population-based SEER database
  • Effect of e-cigarette taxes on e-cigarette and cigarette retail prices and sales, USA, 2014-2019
  • Who Benefits from a Smaller Honors Track?
  • The Human Capital Peace Dividend
  • Potential Supply of Midwest Cropland for Conversion to In-Field Prairie Strips
  • The impact of COVID-19 employment shocks on suicide and safety net use: An early-stage investigation
  • COVID-19 Vaccine Rollouts and the Reproduction of Urban Spatial Inequality: Disparities Within Large U.S. Cities in March and April 2021 by Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Composition
  • Is Recycling Effective? Evidence from California between 2004 and 2017
  • Quantifying social contact patterns in Minnesota during Stay-at-Home social distancing order
  • Did Smog Rules Influence Who Loses? Manufacturing Job Losses and the Great Recession
  • State minimum wage, paid sick leave, and food insufficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Is Recycling Effective? Evidence from California between 2004 and 2017
  • Unemployment insurance and food insecurity among people who lost employment in the wake of COVID-19
  • Are we #stayinghome to Flatten the Curve?*
  • The association between age, COVID-19 symptoms, and social distancing behavior in the United States
  • Maternal Mortality and Womens Political Participation
  • What drives voluntary adoption of farming practices that can abate nutrient pollution?
  • Following the Market? Hedonic Farmland Valuation Using Sales Prices versus Self-reported Values
  • Does Access to Family Planning Increase Childrens Opportunities?: Evidence from the War on Poverty and the Early Years of Title X
  • Mass evacuation and increases in long-term care benefits: lessons from the Fukushima nuclear disaster
  • Does Governmental Assistance Affect Private Decisions to Insure? An Empirical Analysis of Flood Insurance Purchases
  • Africas Skill Tragedy: Does Teachers Lack of Knowledge Lead to Low Student Performance?
  • Cash for carbon: A randomized trial of payments for ecosystem services to reduce deforestation
  • The Effect of Income on Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from the 2008 Economic Stimulus Tax Rebates
  • Financial Literacy and Long- and Short-Term Financial Behavior in Different Age Groups
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Matching Methods in Practice: Three Examples
  • Control Function Methods in Applied Econometrics
Show more Symposium on Empirical Methods

Similar Articles

UW Press logo

© 2025 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire