How much did the 2016 Brexit vote cost the economy of the United Kingdom? We build a look-alike United Kingdom from other rich countries, step by step through a ladder of increasingly flexible methods, and compare what each step says. This R tutorial includes cheat sheets for Stata and Python and an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Which European regions actually influence each other? Instead of assuming that only bordering regions matter, we let growth data for 90 European regions from 2001 to 2019 reveal who the real neighbors are. This R tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Do gaps between rich and poor regions within a country first widen and then narrow as the country develops? Using simulated data for 56 countries that mirrors a published study, we measure regional inequality and trace how it rises and falls with income, from simple to more flexible methods. This R tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Did the large 2012 Kansas tax cut boost the state economy, or shrink it? This beginner R tutorial builds a look-alike Kansas from other states, then corrects the remaining mismatch, and finds output per person roughly 3 to 4 percent lower, although chance cannot be fully ruled out. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Did joining the euro make countries more productive? We build look-alike comparison countries from economies that did not join, first with simulated data and then with a published study of the euro area, and check whether the effect is real or just noise. This R tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Did legal abortion lower crime in the United States, as a famous 2001 study claimed? Instead of hand-picking a few control variables, we let a data-driven method choose among 284 candidates and check whether the original finding holds up. This R tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
What happens to nearby home prices when a registered sex offender moves into a neighborhood? We compare homes close to the address with homes a little farther away, before and after the move, and show how the distance chosen as the cutoff can change the answer. This R tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Did expanding Medicaid health coverage to low-income adults reduce deaths? We compare counties in states that expanded coverage with counties in states that did not, and show how counting each county equally or each person equally can change the answer. This R tutorial includes an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Did the 1988 California cigarette tax reduce cigarette sales, and do different methods agree on how much? This R tutorial applies six ways of evaluating a policy to the same data and finds that most point to a drop of roughly 13 to 20 packs per person each year. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
How much did the 1988 California tobacco tax reduce cigarette sales? We build a look-alike California from other states and also measure how the policy spilled over to neighboring states such as Nevada, where people cross the border to buy cigarettes. This R tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.