Imbens

Imbens, Guido W., is a Dutch economist known for his work in econometrics and causal inference. He has made foundational contributions to the analysis of cause-and-effect relationships, particularly through the potential outcomes framework and the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE), developed with Joshua Angrist. His research addresses identification and estimation of causal effects in observational and quasi-experimental settings, employing instrumental variables and natural experiments.

Imbens has published extensively on program evaluation, labor economics, education, and health economics, emphasizing clear assumptions and credible inference. He studied econometrics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and earned a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a professor at Stanford University, where his work focuses on causal inference and econometrics and their application to policy analysis.

In 2021, Imbens shared the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Joshua Angrist for their contributions to causal inference, which have become standard tools for evaluating policies and programs. His work has influenced both academic research and practical policy evaluation by clarifying when and how causal conclusions can be drawn from imperfect data and by providing robust methods for estimating treatment effects in real-world settings.