Date: April 22, 2026 (Wed) – this Wednesday

Time: 4pm – 5pm

Venue: Room 901, 9/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong

Regression discontinuity analysis (RD) is a quasi-experimental method that identifies causal effects by exploiting sharp cutoffs in treatment assignment. By comparing observations just above and below a threshold, RD approximates random assignment and provides credible estimates in settings where experiments are not feasible. This talk introduces the intuitions, assumptions, and practical implementation of RD, highlighting its importance for empirical research in law and related fields. I will present a range of applications, including my own work on legal origins, which uses a geographic RD design along African borders to address non-random colonial assignment. Combining survey data and satellite measures of development, my research finds little support for the causal effect of legal origin, underscoring both the promise and the limits of RD in addressing longstanding debates. The talk will discuss both regression discontinuity analysis in general as well as several applications, including the one in my paper on legal origin. 

Daniel Klerman is the Edward G. Lewis Professor of Law and History at the University of Southern California Law School.  His scholarship focuses on empirical and economic analysis of procedure, comparative law, and legal history.  He has been Co-President of the Society for Empirical Legal Studies, served on the Board of Directors of the American Law & Economics Association, and is a member of the American Law Institute.  Dan received his B.A. summa cum laude from Yale and received a J.D. and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago.  He clerked for Judge Richard Posner and Justice John Paul Stevens, and has taught at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and Caltech.  Recent work has focused on empirical analysis of litigation and comparative law, with publications including “Inferences from Litigated Cases” (JLS) and “Legal Origin or Colonial History?” (JLA).