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Current practice in the modelling of age, period and cohort effects with panel data: a commentary on Tawfik et al. (2012), Clarke et al. (2009), and McCulloch (2012)

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Abstract

This comment assesses how age, period and cohort (APC) effects are modelled with panel data in the social sciences. It considers variations on a 2-level multilevel model which has been used to show apparent evidence for simultaneous APC effects. We show that such an interpretation is often misleading, and that the formulation and interpretation of these models requires a better understanding of APC effects and the exact collinearity present between them. This interpretation must draw on theory to justify the claims that are made. By comparing two papers which over-interpret such a model, and another that in our view interprets it appropriately, we outline best practice for researchers aiming to use panel datasets to find APC effects, with an understanding that it is impossible for any statistical model to find and separate all three effects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical Sciences, Centre for Multilevel Modelling, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK

    Andrew Bell & Kelvyn Jones

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  1. Andrew Bell
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  2. Kelvyn Jones
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Correspondence to Andrew Bell.

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Bell, A., Jones, K. Current practice in the modelling of age, period and cohort effects with panel data: a commentary on Tawfik et al. (2012), Clarke et al. (2009), and McCulloch (2012). Qual Quant 48, 2089–2095 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-013-9881-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-013-9881-x

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