1. Mask mandates have been politically controversial in countries around the world during the pandemic era. Suppose you

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1 Mask Mandates Have Been Politically Controversial In Countries Around The World During The Pandemic Era Suppose You 1 (61.36 KiB) Viewed 45 times

1. Mask mandates have been politically controversial in countries around the world during the pandemic era. Suppose you have been hired by the US government to study the causal effect of mask mandates on public health and economic outcomes. The government provides you with rich data at the US county level, indexed by i, on variables such as mask mandates, M₁, as well as measures like hospitalizations from Covid in county i, H₁, and unemployment. in county i, U₁. The government wants you to study how mask mandates affected covid hospitalizations and unemployment. (a) (5 marks) Like any good researcher, before you touch the data, you sit and think: What if I compare the average hospitalizations in counties that had a mask mandate with ones that did not, E[H;|M; = 1] — E[H₂|M; = 0]? Are you concerned about selection bias here? (b) (5 marks) Repeat question (a) but for E[U;|M; = 1] — E[U₁|M₂ = 0]. -