Robustness Check of Estimates of Average Treatment Effect on the Treated for Lake Recreation (Matching within Rural, Small Town, Micropolitan, and Metropolitan Cell)
| Participation in 2009 I | Difference in Participation II | Total Trip in 2009 III | Difference in Total Trip IV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment Group 1: Unemployed, Part-time, and Retired | ||||
| Nearest neighbor with replacement | 0.115 (0.073) | 0.128 (0.079) | 0.78 (1.416) | 0.655 (1.732) |
| Nearest five neighbors with replacement | 0.084 (0.053) | 0.119** (0.055) | 0.438 (1.062) | 0.115 (0.908) |
| Radius matching (caliper = 0.5 ×SD) | 0.076 (0.052) | 0.122** (0.054) | 0.285 (0.975) | 0.219 (0.865) |
| Kernel matching | 0.075 (0.053) | 0.112** (0.056) | 0.099 (1.013) | 0.098 (0.876) |
| Treatment Group 2: Unemployed and Part-time | ||||
| Nearest neighbor with replacement | 0.147* (0.089) | 0.131 (0.109) | 1.2 (1.425) | 1.983 (1.438) |
| Nearest five neighbors with replacement | 0.132* (0.068) | 0.159* (0.083) | 0.209 (1.126) | 0.68 (1.045) |
| Radius matching (caliper = 0.5 ×SD) | 0.129* (0.071) | 0.136 (0.085) | 0.129 (1.140) | 0.195 (1.047) |
| Kernel matching | 0.123* (0.068) | 0.150* (0.083) | –0.081 (1.098) | 0.446 (1.006) |
| Treatment Group 3: Retired | ||||
| Nearest neighbor with replacement | 0.11 (0.083) | 0.066 (0.085) | 1.784 (1.739) | –0.849 (1.621) |
| Nearest five neighbors with replacement | 0.04 (0.068) | 0.056 (0.065) | 0.555 (1.452) | –0.505 (1.406) |
| Radius matching (caliper = 0.5 ×SD) | 0.041 (0.069) | 0.057 (0.066) | 0.869 (1.479) | –0.239 (1.352) |
| Kernel matching | 0.055 (0.070) | 0.073 (0.069) | 1.108 (1.514) | –0.21 (1.417) |
Note: Caliper is chosen as one-half of standard deviation of propensity score. Standard errors reported for nearest neighbor estimators are obtained from propensity score weighted regression of outcome variable on treatment indicator based on the matched sample (Marcus 2014). Standard errors reported for radius matching and kernel matching estimators are obtained from bootstrapping with 1,000 replications.
↵*, ** Statistical significance at the 10% and 5% levels, respectively.