Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference

Kosuke Imai Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 e-mail: kimai{at}princeton.edu Gary King Department of Government, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 Elizabeth A. Stuart Departments of Mental Health and Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, Room 804, Baltimore, MD 21205 e-mail: estuart{at}jhsph.edu e-mail: king{at}harvard.edu (corresponding author) Although published works rarely include causal estimates frommore than a few model specifications, authors usually choosethe presented estimates from numerous trial runs readers neversee. Given the often large variation in estimates across choicesof control variables, functional forms, and other modeling assumptions,how can researchers ensure that the few estimates presentedare accurate or representative? How do readers know that publicationsare not merely demonstrations that it is possible to find aspecification that fits the author's favorite hypothesis? Andhow do we evaluate or even define statistical properties likeunbiasedness or mean squared error when no unique model or estimatoreven exists? Matching methods, which offer the promise of causalinference with fewer assumptions, constitute one possible wayforward, but crucial results in this fast-growing methodologicalliterature are often grossly misinterpreted. We explain howto avoid these misinterpretations and propose a unified approachthat makes it possible for researchers to preprocess data withmatching (such as with the easy-to-use software we offer) andthen to apply the best parametric techniques they would haveused anyway. This procedure makes parametric models producemore accurate and considerably less model-dependent causal inferences. Authors' note: Our thanks to Dan Carpenter and Jeff Koch fordata; Alberto Abadie, Neal Beck, Sam Cook, Alexis Diamond, BenHansen, Guido Imbens, Olivia Lau, Gabe Lenz, Paul Rosenbaum,Don Rubin, and Jas Sekhon for many helpful comments; and theNational Institutes of Aging (P01 AG17625-01), the NationalInstitute of Mental Health (MH066247), the National ScienceFoundation (SES-0318275, IIS-9874747, SES-0550873), and thePrinceton University Committee on Research in the Humanitiesand Social Sciences for research support. Software to implementthe methods in this paper is available at http://GKing.Harvard.edu/matchitand a replication data file is available as Ho et al. (2006).     

坚守与融合——浅谈马华作家鲁白野的文化认同

自19世纪华人下南洋达到高峰后,一部分华人选择留在马来(西)亚世代繁衍扎根,构建了具有当地特色的华人社会与文化.华人迁移到马来亚之初,也把中华的传统文化移植到当地.除了华人移民,来自印度南部的印裔移民也迁移到马来亚,同样将他们的文化移植当地.华人迁移到马来亚后,必须面对当地原来的文化以及其他外来文化,并在各种因素如历史背景、政治立场、经济利益等的影响下,与各种不同的文化产生冲突与矛盾.经过长时间生活在多元族群和多元文化的社会之中,马来亚华人在文化认同上也会受到主流文化——马来文化的影响.华人一方面维护自身的民族文化,另一方面也吸收外来文化,以适应居住国的风土与文化.这样的文化融合与调适,在马来亚于1957年独立前后更成为华人社会的重要议题.马来亚华人的国家认同、文化身份和语言教育等,都决定了当时马来亚华人的未来.作为20世纪50年代活跃于马来亚文坛的马华作家,鲁白野以跨文化、跨族群和跨语言的文化书写,对马来亚当时的多元文化作出相应的思考与回应,继而对自身的华人文化观作出调适与转化,充分展现了他及当时马来亚华裔文人在文化认同上的开放性、包容性和融合性.     

Japan's security policy in relation to normal statehood

The paper begins by establishing the context in which Japan's normal statehood will be based. The paper shows how difficult it is for Japan to attain the status of a normal state based on the country's political forces and the rising powers in the Asian region. The paper looks at the relationships between Japan and other nations like China and South Korea, which should be considered by Japan in order to attain normal statehood. These are countries that initially were under the control of Japan, especially in business and even militarily, but today they are assuming their own position in the world; an aspect that is considered a threat to Japan's smooth return to normalcy. The paper takes into consideration the models that Japan can adopt or adapt to attain the status of a normal state. The three models discussed are those of Britain, Germany, and France. The main aspect discussed under these models is autonomy; this is based on the fact that Japan can only attain the status of a normal state if it becomes autonomous.     

Liberalizing British Defamation Law: A Case of Importing the First Amendment?

Regardless of whether American law tends to be too outlying to be relevant to the rest of the world, the U.S. free speech jurisprudence is more impactful than ever. Indeed, the United States remains a real-life laboratory for other countries in resolving clashes between press freedom and reputation. Jameel v. Wall Street Journal Europe and other recent English media libel cases are a good illustration. This article examines the liberalization of U.K. defamation law in connection with the U.S. actual malice rule while noting English courts' significant adoption of neutral reportage, which American courts consider to be less viable as a libel defense. The principle of functionality informs the article's analytical framework.     

Have Cities Shifted to Outcome‐Oriented Performance Reporting?—A Content Analysis of City Budgets

“Outcome” orientation has been emphasized in performance measurement and reporting in recent years. Using budgetary documents of the largest cities in the United States, this paper analyzes more than 4,800 performance measures reported by 21 cities to show that clear progress toward outcome‐oriented performance measurement has been made. It also shows that the selection of performance measures differs among types of municipal services and is driven partly by professionalism in city management and the influence of professional organizations. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings and potential future improvements of performance reporting.     

Xuefei Ren,Governing the Urban in China and India: Land Grabs,Slum Clearance,and the War on Air Pollution

Journal of Chinese Political Science -