Trimmed Mean Group Estimation of Average Effects in Ultra Short T Panels under Correlated Heterogeneity

Abstract: The commonly used two-way fixed effects estimator is biased under correlated heterogeneity and can lead to misleading inference. This paper proposes a new trimmed mean group (TMG) estimator which is consistent at the irregular rate of n^{1/3} even if the time dimension of the panel is as small as the number of its regressors. Extensions to panels with time effects are provided, and a Hausman test of correlated heterogeneity is proposed. Small sample properties of the TMG estimator (with and without time effects) are investigated by Monte Carlo experiments and shown to be satisfactory and perform better than other trimmed estimators proposed in the literature. The proposed test of correlated heterogeneity is also shown to have the correct size and satisfactory power. The utility of the TMG approach is illustrated with an empirical application.