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Instrumental Variables - Online Course

A 3-Day Livestream Seminar Taught by

Felix Elwert
Course Dates:

Thursday, April 10  –
Saturday, April 12, 2025

Schedule: All sessions are held live via Zoom. All times are ET (New York time).

10:00am-12:30pm (convert to your local time)
1:30pm-3:30pm

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This course offers an in-depth survey of modern instrumental variables (IV) analysis. IV analysis is an important quasi-experimental technique with numerous applications in economics, the social and biomedical sciences, business, marketing, and education.

IVs allow us to get unbiased estimates of causal effects even when there is selection bias, unobserved confounding, or imperfect compliance. The technique applies equally to randomized trials and observational studies. IV analysis is a very powerful tool—as long as the underlying assumptions are met.

Starting April 10, we are offering this seminar as a 3-day synchronous*, livestream workshop held via the free video-conferencing software Zoom. Each day will consist of two lecture sessions which include hands-on exercises, separated by a 1-hour break. You are encouraged to join the lecture live, but will have the opportunity to view the recorded session later in the day if you are unable to attend at the scheduled time.

*We understand that finding time to participate in livestream courses can be difficult. If you prefer, you may take all or part of the course asynchronously. The video recordings will be made available within 24 hours of each session and will be accessible for four weeks after the seminar, meaning that you will get all of the class content and discussions even if you cannot participate synchronously.

Closed captioning is available for all live and recorded sessions. Captions can be translated to a variety of languages including Spanish, Korean, and Italian. For more information, click here.

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"The enthusiasm and knowledge of the instructor and his use of examples was outstanding!"

“The enthusiasm and knowledge of the instructor and his use of examples was outstanding! I went into the class with my only knowledge about IVs gleaned from reading almost impenetrable journal articles. I came out with a good grasp of the questions I need to ask when using IVs or evaluating their use by others. This seminar was completely worth the money!”

Patricia Ann Kramer

University of Washington

“Dr. Elwert is an outstanding instructor."

“Dr. Elwert is an outstanding instructor. His elucidation of IV is clear and compelling. Also, couching instrumental variables analysis within a path analysis framework provided an intuitive understanding of bias and IV as a solution.”

Chris Hollenbeak

Penn State University

“Dr. Elwert’s instruction was very good..."

“Dr. Elwert’s instruction was very good and he gave so many examples. He brought the course to a level that everyone would understand. He simplified the complex stuff in plain language. I also liked the engagement between the teacher and students.”

Eric Opoku

University of Nottingham Ningbo China

“Great coverage of the key topics in IV."

“Great coverage of the key topics in IV. I appreciated the careful and accessible explanations of the theoretical underpinnings of the various aspects of the method and also the importance of well-reasoned substantive DGPs.” 

Paul Agius

Burnet Institute 

"I loved Felix's calm and relaxed demeanor and clear, cogent explanations."

“I loved Felix’s calm and relaxed demeanor and clear, cogent explanations. Plus, I thought going through the examples in Stata and hearing him “talk through” results tables, what he sees, why it might be happening, were all immensely useful. And the new results from Lee, McCrary, Moreira, and Porter (2022, NBER WP 29124), were tremendous for me to learn.” 

Mark C. Foley

Davidson College

"The way in which he explains the most complex intuitions of instrumental variables using DAGs is brilliant.”

“Felix is an extraordinary instructor! The way in which he explains the most complex intuitions of instrumental variables using DAGs is brilliant.” 

Anibal Perez-Linan

University of Notre Dame 

“This seminar was very helpful!"

“This seminar was very helpful! Felix is a wonderful instructor who paced things well and fostered good participant interaction. I particularly appreciated the focus on using graphical models to aid intuition. I feel much better prepared to finalize and defend my approach to using instrumental variables in my dissertation.”

Catherine Manly

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

“Felix excels at making abstract and complicated ideas accessible..."

“Felix excels at making abstract and complicated ideas accessible to a general audience by combining them with concrete, real-life examples. As a statistician, I feel that I learned a lot from his lecture by viewing statistical models and methods from applied perspectives.”

Lu Mao

University of Wisconsin, Madison

"Elwert clearly masters all technical knowledge on this subject..."

“I am very pleased by this course and the amount I learned exceeded my expectations. Elwert clearly masters all technical knowledge on this subject, and combines it with sound knowledge on application. Moreover, Elwert is very pedagogical and patiently answers all questions. I would definitely recommend this course to colleagues.”

Tarjei Widding-Havneraas

Haukeland University Hospital