Identification Strategy (ier-identification)

When to trigger

• A structural model's parameters are estimated but it is unclear what in the data identifies each one
• The headline counterfactual is suspected to be driven by a calibrated elasticity nobody defends
• An empirical causal claim rests on OLS + controls, or TWFE on staggered timing
• A referee says the result is "calibration in disguise" or "not credibly identified"
• For a theory paper, you need to confirm the result is pinned (which assumption identifies it) — though the tightness craft lives in ier-theory-model

The IER identification bar

IER prizes a clean model-to-evidence link, so identification is judged by one test: is the mapping from data to the object of interest explicit and defended? The object differs by branch, and so does what "identified" means. Pick the branch and make the mapping transparent — a referee should be able to point at the data feature that moves each estimate.

Branch A: Structural / quantitative (the IER core)

This is where most IER identification debates happen. The failure mode is treating "the estimator converged" as if it were identification.