Jinan Public Lecture

On July 7, Professor Joshua Angrist, the 2021 Nobel Prize Laureate in Economic Sciences and the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT, visited IESR at Jinan University (Shipai Campus).

In the morning, Professor Angrist delivered a public lecture entitled “Intentions are Good but Instrumental Variables is Better: Rescuing Real-World Randomized Trials” in the International Conference Hall at Zengxianzi Science Building, with over 200 participants on-site. The lecture was chaired by Professor Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR.

Opening Remark by Professor Shuaizhang Feng

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Naihua Gu, Vice President of Jinan University, delivered a welcome speech. On behalf of Jinan University, he extended a warm welcome to Professor Joshua Angrist and briefly introduced the history and development of Jinan University and IESR.

Welcome Speech by Professor Naihua Gu

During the lecture, Professor Angrist highlighted several challenges that real-world randomized controlled trials (RCTs) encounter during implementation, including instances where subjects in the control group received treatment while others in the treatment group did not. Intention-to-treat analysis (ITT) often underestimates the actual treatment effect because it ignores non-compliance. In contrast, the Instrumental Variable (IV) can better address the problem of non-compliance and yield more stable estimation results. Professor Angrist demonstrated how to use random assignment to estimate the Local Average Treatment Effects (LATE) of Compliers through the ISCHEMIA trial and cancer screening. The IV needs to meet three core assumptions: the correlation assumption, the monotonicity assumption, and the exclusivity assumption. Specifically, LATE is equal to the ITT estimate divided by the compliance rate. Professor Angrist’s research demonstrates that the IV provides a powerful analytical tool for clinical research, enabling the estimation of more accurate treatment effects when addressing the challenge of non-compliance.

Professor Joshua Angrist

Jinan students interacting with Professor Joshua Angrist

Dialogue

After the lecture, Professor Angrist had a face-to-face meeting with Professor Feng Xing, President of Jinan University, to exchange views on topics such as international talent introduction and further talent training.

Professor Feng Xing (left) & Professor Joshua Angrist (right)

During his visit, Professor Angrist also had an in-depth discussion with Professor Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR.

Professor Joshua Angrist (left) & Professor Shuaizhang Feng (right)

Professor Angrist spoke highly of the remarkable progress IESR has made in international development over the past decade and offered valuable suggestions for IESR’s future development. He expressed his earnest hope that IESR should continue to maintain interaction and connection with the world, commit to research of global significance, and adhere to high international academic standards.

When discussing education policy research, Professor Angrist emphasized that IESR should adopt an objective stance and utilize scientific methods and microdata to contribute to discussions on key policy issues, such as school quality assessment. He encouraged IESR to actively engage through various channels, such as media communication and academic conferences, to expand the impact of research results on policy formulation and implementation.

In response to the rapid development of higher education in China, particularly the expansion trend in doctoral education, Professor Angrist stressed that the primary goal of a doctoral degree is to cultivate academic research capabilities. He suggested that students should more pragmatically evaluate their needs and career plans before choosing to pursue a doctoral degree. Additionally, universities need to enhance their career guidance services to help students better understand the career prospects of both academic and non-academic paths.

This year marks the second time Professor Joshua Angrist has visited IESR. Professor Angrist was deeply impressed by China’s rapid economic and social development. He said that China’s significant progress is admirable and has provided unique samples and perspectives for economic research.

In 2019, Professor Angrist visited IESR to teach a short course on Mastering ‘Metrics: Empirical Strategies with Chinese Characteristics to nearly 200 students and young faculty members.

Professor Joshua Angrist teaching Applied Econometrics at IESR

With Professor Angrist’s great support, IESR will continue to participate in international dialogues and promote high-quality academic research in the future.