Book Reviews

MHE is not only an econometrics reference and tutorial, it’s also a guide to a subset of the observational study literature that applies sound technique. Every method is motivated and illuminated by reference to or examples from published work. That’s particularly valuable to the publishing practitioner who needs to demonstrate adherence to proven methodology by reference to prior studies.

Thus, MHE is better than “mostly harmless,” and I recommend it highly, particularly to those who evaluate social programs, clinical trials, or otherwise wish to estimate causal effects from experimental or observational data.

Austin Frakt, The Incidental Economist blog

“I recommend that everybody who has my book with Jennifer Hill read the Angrist and Pischke book (and, of course, I recommend the converse as well).”

Andrew Gelman, Columbia University

“[Mostly Harmless Econometrics is] a retrospective on the search for causal identification, and a more readable guide for practice than the usual fare (it’s only partly written in Greek).”

Chris Blattman, Yale

“This book’s chief value will be as a guide for people embarking for the first time on applied research. As such, it is insightful and refreshing.

Who is it for? Graduates and micro-econometric practitioners.

Presentation: Accessible paperback with funny illustrations.

Would you recommend it? Highly – but not to beginners.”

James Davidson, Times Higher Education Magazine

I’ve been reading a truly excellent book by Joshua Angrist and Jorn-Steffen Pischke called Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion. It’s not written for a general audience, but if you pulled an A- or better on a college-level econometrics course (and if you love Freakonomics), then this is the book for you. It should be required reading for anyone who is trying to write an applied dissertation.

Ian Ayres, Freakonomics Blog

A nice write-up from the MIT News Office.

(of course, they know the authors)

MIT News

This book is remarkable.  Angrist and Pischke excel at spelling out under what conditions regression coefficients have a causal interpretation.  They also devote careful attention to more practical issues such as constructing valid standard errors (chap. 8).   It is safe to predict that Angrist and Pischke’s uniquely fresh writing style will appeal to a wider audience than that of the standard econometrics textbook.

Christoph Hanck, Statistical Science

“All graduate students and researchers should read Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion, by Joshua D. Angrist and Jörn-Steffen Pischke. This instructive and irreverent romp through microeconometrics is as much of a page turner as we are likely to see in a book about statistical methods.”

Stata Technical Group

Short Takes

“Interesting and unusual, this is an econometrics book with attitude. It offers real answers and suggestions to problems faced daily by those engaged in the analysis of economic data. I will recommend it to my students.”

— Guido Imbens, Harvard University