Statistical Matching Procedure Research Articles

Legal status and health disparities: An examination of health insurance coverage among the foreign-born

This paper employs a statistical matching procedure to impute the legal status of foreign-born adults in US Census surveys in order to estimate migration status disparities in health insurance coverage.

How community forest management performs when REDD+ payments fail

The reduced emissions in deforestation and degradation (REDD+) initiative uses payments for ecosystem services as incentives for developing countries to manage and protect their forests. REDD+ initiatives also prioritize social (and environmental) co-benefits aimed at improving the livelihoods of communities that are dependent on forests. Despite the incorporation of co-benefits into REDD+ goals, carbon sequestration remains the primary metric for which countries can receive payments from REDD+, but after more than 10 years of REDD+, many site-specific programs have failed to complete the carbon verification process. Here, we examine whether the REDD+ social co-benefits alone are sufficient to have slowed deforestation in the absence of carbon payments on Pemba, Tanzania. Using satellite imagery (Landsat archive), we quantified forest cover change for the period before (2001–2010) and after (2010–2018) the launch in 2010–2011 of Pemba island’s REDD+ readiness project. We then compared rates of forest cover change between shehia (administrative units) that were part of REDD+ readiness intervention and those that were not, adjusting for confounding variables and the non-random selection of REDD+ shehia with a statistical matching procedure. Despite considerable variation in forest outcomes among shehia, the associated co-benefits with the Pemba REDD+ project had no discernible effect on forest cover change. Likewise, we did not detect an effect of socioecological covariates on forest cover change across all shehia, though island-wide human population growth since 2012 may have played a role. These findings are unsurprising given the failure to secure carbon payments on Pemba and indicate that co-benefits alone are insufficient to reduce deforestation. We conclude that better oversight of all-involved parties is needed to ensure that REDD+ interventions satisfactorily conclude the process of securing a mechanism for carbon payments, if slowing deforestation is to be achieved.

Mapping fuel poverty risk at the municipal level. A small-scale analysis of Italian Energy Performance Certificate, census and survey data

We use a statistical micro matching procedure to obtain a synthetic dataset to investigate the risk of fuel poverty in small areas. Specifically, we link 19,174 homes with Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) in the Italian province of Treviso with information - from the General Census of Population and Housing and Household Budget Survey - about the socio-economic features of the families that most likely inhabit them. Based on this original dataset, we find that poor housing is as important as low income and the use of natural gas in determining fuel poverty. In particular, the risk of fuel poverty is increased by i) the energy inefficiency of the home; ii) the size of the home in relation to household size; iii) the lower total household expenditure. Conversely, the risk decreases when the main heating is natural gas and/or the home is endowed with renewable energy sources.Our results show that information in EPCs, matched at the micro level with the socio-economic data usually available from administrative sources or surveys, can be used to identify - on the one hand - the individual households and the municipal areas risking fuel poverty, and - on the other - the most effective policy options to tackle the phenomenon.

Addressing data deficiencies in assistive technology by using statistical matching methodology: a case study from Malawi

Purpose To address the data gap on efforts to assess use of assistive technology among children with disability in sub-Saharan Africa. Contribute towards efforts examining access to assistive technologies in sub-Saharan Africa. Materials and methods The paper uses data from the 2017 survey on Living conditions among persons with disabilities in Malawi and the 2015-16 Malawi Demographic and Health survey to address the objective of the study. The two datasets were statistically matched through random hot deck technique, by integrating the two datasets using randomly selected units from a subset of all available data donors. Results Results indicate that statistical matching technique produces a composite dataset with an uncertainty value of 2.2%. An accuracy assessment test of the technique also indicates that the marginal distribution of use of assistive technology in the composite dataset is similar to that of the donor dataset with an Overlap index value of close to 1 (Overlap = 0.997). Conclusions The statistical matching procedure does enable generation of good data in data constrained contexts. In the current study, this approach enabled measurement of access to assistive products among children with disabilities, in situations where the variables of interest have not been jointly observed. Such a technique can be valuable in mining secondary data, the collection of which may have been funded from different sources and for different purposes. This is of significance for the efficient use of current and future data sets, allowing new questions to be asked and addressed by locally based researchers in poor settings. Implications for Rehabilitation In resource-poor settings, the technique of statistical matching can be used to examine factors that predict the use of assistive technology among persons with disabilities. The statistical matching technique is of significance for the efficient use of current and future datasets, allowing new questions to be asked and addressed by locally based researchers.

Disruption in the air: The impact of flight rerouting due to air traffic control strikes

When airspace sectors are disrupted airlines have the decision to either cancel, delay or reroute scheduled flights. The aim of this paper is to estimate the additional kilometres flown due to rerouted flights during air traffic control strikes. We use detailed flight-level data and information on over sixty strikes in European airspace between 2015 and 2017. We combine a difference-in-difference approach with statistical matching procedures to address that strikes do not occur randomly over time. Our estimates show that strikes significantly decrease the horizontal trajectory efficiency of operated flights, aggregating to 4.7 million additional aircraft kilometres over the sample period. This equals about 13.4 kilotonnes of additional fuel consumption and 42.2 kilotonnes of CO2-emissions. Further results suggest that these inefficiencies can be mitigated by measures that preserve continuity of service for overflights during disruptions.

Feedback devices help only environmentally concerned people act pro-environmentally over time

Technological advancements spawn products that tend to be useful when placed in the appropriate hands. Here we investigated whether potential benefits of owning a feedback device were driven by individual differences in environmental values (i.e. biospherism), or whether the device alone is sufficient to reduce energy over time. We examined a total of 276 households, 138 equipped with a feedback device formed our treatment group, and 138 control households selected from a wider pool of households (+2000) based on their similarity to the treatment households, according to a statistical matching procedure. The results indicated that individuals with low biospheric values fail to decrease their electricity expenditure when paired with a feedback device. Conversely, highly biospheric individuals do engage in more pro-environmental behaviour when they receive feedback, but only when they have owned the device for about three years or more. We obtained additional insights, by focusing on differences within the treatment group that suggest, once again, that only highly biospheric individuals who owned the device for over three years successfully implement changes in the household. Overall, these results indicate that feedback devices such as smart meters can be important tools in achieving energy reductions only when paired with environmentally concerned individuals. Given the current trend towards increased feedback technology, policy implications for decision makers are discussed.

An Integrated Database to Measure Living Standards

AbstractThis study generates an integrated database to measure living standards in Italy using propensity score matching. We follow the recommendations of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress proposing that income, consumption of market goods and nonmarket activities, and wealth, rather than production, should be evaluated jointly in order to appropriately measure material welfare. Our integrated database is similar in design to the one built for the United States by the Levy Economics Institute to measure the multiple dimensions of well-being. In the United States, as is the case for Italy and most European countries, the state does not maintain a unified database to measure household economic well-being, and data sources about income and employment surveys and other surveys on wealth and the use of time have to be statistically matched. The measure of well-being is therefore the result of a multidimensional evaluation process no longer associated with a single indicator, as is usually the case when measuring gross domestic product. The estimation of individual and social welfare, multidimensional poverty and inequality does require an integrated living standard database where information about consumption, income, time use and subjective well-being are jointly available. With this objective in mind, we combine information available in four different surveys: the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions Survey, the Household Budget Survey, the Time Use Survey, and the Household Conditions and Social Capital Survey. We perform three different statistical matching procedures to link the relevant dimensions of living standards contained in each survey and report both the statistical and economic tests carried out to evaluate the quality of the procedure at a high level of detail.

Imprecise Imputation: A Nonparametric Micro Approach Reflecting the Natural Uncertainty of Statistical Matching with Categorical Data

AbstractStatistical matchingis the term for the integration of two or more data files that share a partially overlapping set of variables. Its aim is to obtain joint information on variables collected in different surveys based on different observation units. This naturally leads to an identification problem, since there is no observation that contains information on all variables of interest.We develop the first statistical matching micro approach reflecting the natural uncertainty of statistical matching arising from the identification problem in the context of categorical data. A complete synthetic file is obtained by imprecise imputation, replacing missing entries bysetsof suitable values. Altogether, we discuss three imprecise imputation strategies and propose ideas for potential refinements.Additionally, we show how the results of imprecise imputation can be embedded into the theory of finite random sets, providing tight lower and upper bounds for probability statements. The results based on a newly developed simulation design–which is customised to the specific requirements for assessing the quality of a statistical matching procedure for categorical data–corroborate that the narrowness of these bounds is practically relevant and that these bounds almost always cover the true parameters.

Statistical Matching as a Supplement to Record Linkage: A Valuable Method to Tackle Nonconsent Bias?

AbstractRecord linkage has become an important tool for increasing research opportunities in the social sciences. Surveys that perform record linkage to administrative records are often required to obtain informed consent from respondents prior to linkage. A major concern is that nonconsent could introduce biases in analyses based on the linked data. One straightforward strategy to overcome the missing data problem created by nonconsent is to match nonconsenters with statistically similar units in the target administrative database. To assess the effectiveness of statistical matching in this context, we use data from two German panel surveys that have been linked to an administrative database of the German Federal Employment Agency. We evaluate the statistical matching procedure under various artificial nonconsent scenarios and show that the method can be effective in reducing nonconsent biases in marginal distributions, but that biases in multivariate estimates can sometimes be worsened. We discuss the implications of these findings for survey practice and elaborate on some of the practical challenges of implementing the statistical matching procedure in the context of linkage nonconsent. The developed simulation design can act as a roadmap for other statistical agencies considering the proposed approach for their data.

Implementing Rubin's Alternative Multiple-imputation Method for Statistical Matching in Stata

This article introduces two new commands, smpc and smmatch, that implement the statistical matching procedure proposed by Rubin (1986, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 4: 87-94). The purpose of statistical matching in Rubin's procedure is to generate a single dataset from various datasets, where each dataset contains a specific variable of interest and all contain some variables in common. For two variables of interest that are not observed jointly for any unit, smpc generates the predicted values of each as a function of the other variable of interest and a set of control variables by assuming a partial correlation value (defined by the user) between the two variables of interest (other statistical matching procedures assume that they are conditionally independent given the control variables). The smmatch command, on the other hand, matches observations of different datasets according to their predicted values (using a minimum distance criterion) conditional on a set of control variables, and it imputes the observed value of the match for the missing.

Does Switching to a Western German Employer Still Pay Off?

Summary This paper deals with the medium-term effects of job mobility on the average wage growth of job-movers in eastern Germany. The analysis is based on all employees subject to social insurance contributions working in eastern Germany in 2004. Using a statistical matching procedure combined with a difference-in-differences estimator, we observe that job-movers achieve an average annual wage increase of 2.68% between 2004 and 2009, which is significantly higher than the annual wage growth of selected non-movers (1.34 %). The finding is very robust against changes in the matching procedure. The positive wage differential due to changing jobs was found for a variety of subgroups of individuals that were formed on the basis of sociodemographic and firm-specific characteristics. In contrast to the evidence in the 1990’s, the positive wage effect is now significantly lower for movers from eastern to western Germany compared to movers within eastern Germany.

Volunteer work and domain satisfactions: evidence from Italy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determinants of three domain satisfactions, focusing on volunteer work supplied in official non‐profit service associations.Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses the data from the Multiscopo Survey of Households (MSH) conducted by the Italian Central Statistical Office for the years 1993‐1995‐1998‐2000 for empirical investigations with ordered probit and ordinary least square estimations. A statistical matching procedure to impute missing values on household income in MSH is also performed.Findings – The paper finds that volunteering is positively correlated with satisfaction with leisure, with relationships and economic well‐being. These findings are interpreted as an indication that the benefits gained from volunteering are a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well as the production and consumption of relational goods. In addition, results for Italy confirm findings gathered from domain satisfaction studies for other Europe...

Job satisfaction in Italy: individual characteristics and social relations

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the determinants of job satisfaction in Italy with particular emphasis on social relations.Design/methodology/approach– This paper uses the data from the Multiscopo Survey of Households (MSH) conducted by the Italian Central Statistical Office for the years 1993-1995-1998-2000 for empirical investigations with ordered probit and robustness tests. A statistical matching procedure to impute missing values on household income in MSH is also performed.Findings– The paper finds that social interactions matter. While visits to relatives are not statistically significant, volunteer work and the frequency of meetings with friends are significantly and positively correlated with job satisfaction, with church attendance having the biggest impact on job satisfaction. These results seem to confirm the main assumption of the paper: social relations are helpful in gaining more and in improving career prospects. The findings also show that meetings with friends increase job satisfaction through self-perceived health, suggesting a “buffering effect” of the networks of friends. In addition, results for Italy confirm findings gathered from job satisfaction studies with some novel evidence.Originality/value– The role of social relations in job satisfaction has received no attention. The paper contributes to the literature by carrying out the first empirical analysis on the relationship between social relations and job satisfaction. Overall, the value-added of the study is twofold. First, it adds a new piece of evidence to the existing literature on job satisfaction, i.e. the effects of social relations. To the best of the knowledge, there are no studies which consider social interactions as determinants of job satisfaction. Second, it extends the country evidence on the determinants of job satisfaction.

JUVENILITY AND PUNISHMENT: SENTENCING JUVENILES IN ADULT CRIMINAL COURT*

The study outlined in this article addressed a key limitation of prior research on the punishment of juveniles transferred to adult court by employing propensity score matching techniques to create more comparable samples of juvenile and young adult offenders. Using recent data from the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy, it tested competing theoretical propositions about the salience of juvenile status in adult court. Findings indicate that even after rigorous statistical matching procedures, juvenile offenders are punished more severely than their young adult counterparts. We found no evidence that this “juvenile penalty” is exacerbated by an offender's race or gender, but it does vary starkly across offense type and mode of transfer, being driven primarily by drug crimes and discretionary waivers. The import of these findings is discussed as they relate to the future of juvenile justice policy regarding the continued use of juvenile transfer to adult court.

Are Venture Capitalists a Catalyst for Innovation?

Abstract In this paper we test two hypotheses concerning the presence of innovation in venture capital investments and the growth of innovative venture backed firms. To examine these hypotheses we considered sample of 37 Italian venture backed firms that went public on the Italian Stock Exchange between 1995 and 2004 and by a statistical matching procedure we picked 37 twin firms among the non‐venture backed IPOs for the same period. Our evidence shows that innovation is an important factor during the selection phase but once the investment is made, the company does not promote continued innovation and concentrates all efforts to improve other economic and managerial aspects.

Firm-level implications of early stage venture capital investment — An empirical investigation

Abstract We analyze the impact of venture capital finance on growth and innovation of young German firms. On the basis of statistical matching procedures we confirm findings that venture-funded firms have a higher number of patent applications than those in the control group. However, these are obtained even before the venture capitalists' investment, hence venture capitalists choose firms with demonstrated innovative output. After investment, the number of firms' patents does not differ significantly anymore, however their growth rates are significantly larger. This suggests that the higher innovativeness of venture-funded firms is due to the selection process of the venture capitalist prior to the funding rather than to the venture funding itself. Venture capitalists seem to focus rather on commercialization of existing innovations and growth of the firm.

Firm Level Implications of Early Stage Venture Capital Investment - An Empirical Investigation

The paper analyses the impact of venture capital finance on growth and innovation activities of young German firms. Among other variables, our panel of firm data includes data on venture capital funding and patent applications. With a statistical matching procedure we draw an adequate control group of non venture funded firms. The analysis gives evidence that innovative firms will be able to close a venture capital deal with higher probability. Once the firms are venture funded, they display higher growth rates but do not differ in their innovative output from otherwise comparable firms. We derive strategic implications.

Estimating the Impact of Large Cigarette Tax Hikes

Using a statistical matching procedure to choose control groups, we find that four states that adopted large cigarette tax hikes had corresponding decreases in smoking participation of pregnant women. Using the tax hike as an instrument for smoking in birth-weight equations and pooling data across experiments, we find that smoking during pregnancy doubles the chance an infant is born with a low birth weight. Our estimates are similar to singleequation estimates where maternal smoking is treated as exogenous.

Höheres Beschäftigungswachstum durch Venture Capital? / Does Venture Capital Affect New Firms' Growth?

Zusammenfassung Fragestellung des Papieres ist, ob junge Unternehmen durch die Inanspruchnahme einer Beteiligungsfinanzierung (Untersuchungsgruppe) eine bessere unternehmerische Performance erzielen können im Vergleich zu einer „repräsentativen" Menge von nicht mit Beteiligungskapital finanzierten Unternehmen (Kontrollgruppe). Da sich Beteiligungskapitalgeber bei ihren Investments an den zu erwartenden Wachstumsaussichten der Unternehmen orientieren, kann mit der zufälligen Auswahl von Unternehmen ohne Beteiligungsfinanzierung keine geeignete Kontrollgruppe gebildet werden. In der Mehrzahl der Studien wurden bisher nur wenige oder keine Determinanten berücksichtigt, um eine adäquate Kontrollgruppe auszuwählen. Eine Verzerrung des ausgewiesenen Beitrages der Beteiligungsfinanzierung zum unternehmerischen Wachstum ist daher nicht auszuschließen. In der vorliegenden Studie wird ein statistisches Evaluationsverfahren eingesetzt, um eine Kontrollgruppe zu bestimmen, welche in deutlich mehr beobachtbaren Charakteristika eine hinreichende Ähnlichkeit mit der Untersuchungsgruppe aufweist. Der anschließende Vergleich der Beschäftigungswachstumsraten zwischen der Untersuchungs- und Kontrollgruppe nach dem Matching zeigt, dass eine offene Beteiligung eines Beteiligungskapitalgebers zu einem höheren Wachstum junger Unternehmen in Deutschland führt. Die Beschäftigungswirkung fällt jedoch, verglichen mit den bisherigen Studien, deutlich geringer aus. Zudem sind einige branchen- und regionsspezifische Unterschiede offensichtlich.

Studying outcomes of organizational change in health services.

The rapidly changing organizational context within which health care is delivered is altering provider-patient relations and processes of clinical decision-making, with significant implications for patient outcomes. Yet definitive research on such effects is lacking. The authors seek to underscore the contribution of organizational research to studies of clinical outcomes and demonstrates several approaches to further such efforts. The authors present a theoretical framework of the operant mechanisms linking organizational attributes and patient outcomes. They use case examples from their ongoing research on hospitals to illustrate strategies for measuring these mechanisms and for overcoming some of the feasibility issues inherent in organizational research. Several methodological issues are explored: (1) exploiting "targets of opportunity" and "natural experiments" is a promising strategy for studying patient outcomes related to organizational reform; (2) indices of organizational traits, constructed from individual survey responses, can illuminate the operant mechanisms by which structure affects outcomes; and (3) secondary data sources and innovative statistical matching procedures provide a feasible strategy for constructing study comparison groups. Extending the organizational outcomes research strategy to new areas of inquiry offers an opportunity to enhance our understanding of how nursing organization affects outcomes. Improving the effectiveness of medical care in a health-care system undergoing fundamental restructuring requires greater understanding of how organizational context affects clinical outcomes. A higher priority should be placed on organizational outcomes research by researchers and funding agencies.