DON’T PANIC! The core methods in today’s econometric toolkit are linear regression for statistical control, instrumental variables methods for the analysis of natural experiments, and differences-in-differences methods that exploit policy changes. In the modern experimentalist paradigm, these techniques answer clear causal questions such as: Do smaller classes increase learning? Do minimum wages reduce employment? Should wife batterers be arrested? How much does education raise earnings? Does democracy increase economic growth? Mostly Harmless Econometrics shows how the basic tools of applied econometrics allow the data to speak.

In addition to econometric essentials, Mostly Harmless Econometrics covers important new extensions — regression discontinuity designs and quantile regression — as well as how to get standard errors right. Angrist and Pischke explain why fancier techniques are typically unnecessary and even dangerous. The applied econometric methods emphasized in this book are easy to use and relevant for many areas of contemporary social science.

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    “Finally – An econometrics book for practitioners! Not only for students, Mostly Harmless Econometricsis a fantastic resource for anyone who does empirical work.”
    — Sandra Black, UCLA

    “This is a remarkable book–it does the profession a great service by taking knowledge that is usually acquired over many years and distilling it in such a succinct manner.”
    — Amitabh Chandra, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

    “MHE is a fantastic book that should be read cover-to-cover by any young applied micro economist.  The book provides an excellent mix of statistical detail, econometric intuition and practical instruction.  The topic coverage includes the bulk of econometric tools used in the vast majority of applied microeconomics.  I wish there was an econometric textbook this well done when I was in graduate school.”
    — Bill Evans, University of Notre Dame