Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics by David S. Lee, Thomas Lemieux , 2009 Abstract - Cited by 335 (4 self) - Add to MetaCart Regression Discontinuity Designs: A Guide to Practice. This paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) provides an outline of some of the practical issues around the implementation of Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs whilst reviewing some of the new developments in the area. "After reviewing some basic concepts in Section 2 RD Design, Regression Discontinuity Design Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) is a quasi-experimental evaluation option that measures the impact of an intervention, or treatment, by applying a treatment assignment mechanism based on a continuous eligibility index which is a variable with a continuous distribution. In regression discontinuity (RD) designs for evaluating causal effects of interventions, assignment to a treatment is determined at least partly by the value of an observed covariate lying on Regression discontinuity (RD) designs for evaluating causal effects of interventions where assignment to a treatment is determined at least partly by the value of an observed covariate lying on either side of a cutoff point were first introduced by Thistlewaite and Campbell (1960). Abstract In regression discontinuity (RD) designs for evaluating causal effects of interventions, assignment to a treatment is determined at least partly by the value of an observed covariate lying on either side of a fixed threshold. These designs were first introduced in the evaluation literature by Thistlewaite and Campbell [1960. The goal of this workshop is to give an introduction to standard and recent methodological devel- opments in the analysis and interpretation of regression discontinuity (RD) designs. The course focuses on methodology and empirical practice, and will not discuss much of the statistical and econometric theory underlying the results. The idea of regression discontinuity goes way back, but it has gained in popularity in recent years The basic idea is to recognize that in many circumstances policy rules vary at some cutoff point To think of the simplest case suppose the treatment assignment rule is: Ti= ( 0 Xi