Labour by Design: Contributions of David Card, Joshua Angrist, and Guido Imbens

TL;DR

This paper surveys the influential empirical and methodological contributions of David Card, Joshua Angrist, and Guido Imbens, highlighting how their work transformed applied microeconomics and causal analysis in labour economics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the laureates' work, emphasizing their impact on research design and causal inference methods in economics.

Findings

Transformative impact on labour economics research

Development of robust causal inference tools

Enhanced understanding of empirical research design

Abstract

The 2021 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to David Card "for his empirical contributions to labour economics" and to Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens "for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships." We survey these contributions of the three laureates, and discuss how their empirical and methodological insights transformed the modern practice of applied microeconomics. By emphasizing research design and formalizing the causal content of different econometric procedures, the laureates shed new light on key questions in labour economics and advanced a robust toolkit for empirical analyses across many fields.