Does mining make places richer or poorer, and does the answer depend on the quality of government? Using simulated data that mirrors a published study, we use machine learning in Stata to estimate how the effects of mining and mineral prices on development differ from place to place. The tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Does working from home make employees more productive, or do productive people simply choose to work from home? This beginner Python tutorial uses simulated data with a known answer to show a four-step approach to cause and effect: state your assumptions, decide what to compare, estimate the effect and stress-test it. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Does access to a workplace retirement savings plan make American households save more, or do the households that get it simply earn more? This Python tutorial uses double machine learning, which lets flexible prediction models account for income and other differences, on 1991 survey data. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
When we measure how a relationship changes from place to place, hidden features of each place can distort the answer. This Python tutorial follows a 2026 study by Li and Fotheringham and uses simulated data on 225 places over three periods to show how following the same places over time removes that distortion. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
If a job training program helps unemployed people find work, who gains the most, and who should be offered a place first? This Python tutorial uses causal machine learning on simulated jobseeker data with known true effects to move from the average effect to personal effects and a better way to assign training. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Does access to a workplace retirement savings plan help some households build more wealth than others? Instead of reporting one average effect, we use machine learning in Stata to estimate how the effect differs across households by income and other traits. The tutorial comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Does smoking during pregnancy lower the birth weight of babies? Using data on about 4,600 births in Stata, we compare six ways of making smokers and nonsmokers comparable, and most of them agree on a harm of roughly 230 grams. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
What did years of terrorist violence cost the economy of the Basque Country in Spain? This beginner R tutorial builds a look-alike Basque Country from other Spanish regions, mostly Catalonia and Madrid, and finds income per person roughly 8 percent lower at the widest point of the gap. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
How much does war lower the living standards of a country? Using data on 160 countries from 1955 to 2015 in Stata, we follow each country over time to separate the damage of war from lasting national differences, and find that about half of the long-run cost works through weaker institutions. The tutorial includes an interactive app that runs in your web browser.
Did an after-school tutoring program really raise student grades, or were grades rising everywhere? This Python tutorial compares 10 tutored high schools with 25 others, before and after the program, to separate its effect from the general upward trend. It comes with an interactive app that runs in your web browser.