**Appendix 2: Variables and Methods used in the Simulations (Table A2)**

|**Panel A: Variables**<br>_Microenterprise profits in Sri Lanka (de_|_Mel et al 2007)_|
|---|---|
|<br>Baseline control variables:|_,_<br>Profits, hours worked, female dummy, sales, capital, asset index, and "saw tsunami" dummy|
|"Unobservable" baseline variables:|Household size, dirt floor dummy, age, married dummy, migrant dummy, internal migrant dummy,<br>relative abroad dummy, years of education, Muslim dummy, Tamil speaker dummy, risk taking index,<br>relative risk aversion, digit span recall index, time taken to solve a maze, entrepreneurial self-efficacy,<br>financial literacy, father owned a business dummy, mother owned a business dummy, going into<br>business to care for family members dummy, age of business, business run out of home dummy,<br>registered with District Secretariat dummy, registered with local government dummy, bank loan<br>dummy, keeps records dummy, 2 industry dummies|
|Stratification categories (2 variables):<br>|Gender and quartiles of baseline profits<br>|
|Stratification categories (3 variables):<br>Stratification categories (4 variables):|Gender, quartiles of baseline profits, and three groups of hours worked (<=38, 39-58, >58)<br>Gender, quartiles of baseline profits, three groups of hours worked (<=38, 39-58, >58), and asset<br>index below and above median|
|_ENE (Mexican Labor Market Survey)_<br>Baseline control variables:|Income, hours worked, female dummy, rural dummy, number of rooms in home, business owner (or<br>|
||self-employed) dummy, and 1 to 5 employees dummy|
|"Unobservable" baseline variables:|Dirtfloor dummy, has phone at home dummy, owns home dummy, age, married dummy, more than<br>one job dummy, social security dummy, 4 region dummies, 8 industry dummies, 4 education dummies|
|Stratification categories (2 variables):<br>Stratification categories (3 variables):<br>Stratification categories (4 variables):|Gender and quartiles of baseline income<br>Gender, quartiles of baseline income, and three groups of hours worked (<=42, 43-48, >48)<br>Gender, quartiles of baseline income, three groups of hours worked (<=42, 43-48, >48), and business<br>owner (or self-employed) dummy|
|_IFLS school data_<br>Baseline control variables:|Female dummy, age, government school dummy, mother education years, household size, ln<br>household expenditure per capita, urban dummy|
|Stratification categories (2 variables):<br>Stratification categories (3 variables):|Gender and quartiles of baseline ln household expenditure per capita<br> <br>Gender, quartiles of baseline ln household expenditure per capita, and three groups of mothers<br>education years (0-2, 3-6, and 7+)|
|Stratification categories (4 variables):|<br>Gender, quartiles of baseline ln household expenditure per capita, three groups of mothers education<br>years (0-2, 3-6, and 7+), and urban vs. rural|
|_IFLS expenditure data_||
|<br>Baseline control variables:|Ln household expenditure per capita, household size, number of kids below 5, household head<br>education years, male household head dummy, household head age, urban dummy|
|Stratification categories (2 variables):<br>Stratification categories (3 variables):|Urban vs. rural and quartiles of baseline ln household expenditure per capita<br>Urrban vs. rural, quartiles of baseline ln household expenditure per capita, and three groups of head of<br>household education years (0-2, 3-6, and 7+)<br>|
|Stratification categories (4 variables):|<br>Urban vs. rural, quartiles of baseline ln household expenditure per capita, three groups of mothers<br>education years (0-2, 3-6, and 7+), and head of household age above or below median|
|_LEAPS math test score data_<br>Baseline control variables:|Math test score, english test score, age, gender, private school dummy, mother educated beyond<br>elementary dummy, PCA asset wealth index|
|Stratification categories (2 variables):<br>Stratification categories (3 variables):|Gender and quartiles of baseline math test score<br> <br>Gender, quartiles of baseline math test score, and 3 categories of the PCA assets wealth index (<=-<br>0.4, >-0.4 & <=0.8, >0.8)|
|Stratification categories (4 variables):|Gender, quartiles of baseline math test score, 3 categories of the PCA assets wealth index (<=-0.4, >-<br>0.4 & <=0.8, >0.8), and mother educated beyond elementary or not|
|_LEAPS height z-score data_||
|<br>Baseline control variables:|Height z-score, weight z-score, gender, mother educated beyond elementary dummy, PCA asset<br>wealth index, 2 district dummies|
|Stratification categories (2 variables):|Gender and quartiles of baseline height z-score<br>|
|<br>Stratification categories (3 variables):|<br>Gender, quartiles of baseline height z-score, and 3 districts|
|<br>Stratification categories (4 variables):|<br>Gender, quartiles of baseline math test score, 3 districts, and mother educated beyond elementary or<br>not|
|**Panel B: Methods**|For each dataset,...|
|Pairwise Greedy Matching:|<br>...the algorithm matches on seven baseline control variables listed in Panel A.|
|Big Stick Rule:|...the method calculates p-values on difference in seven baseline variables listed in Panel A.|
|Draw with Minmax T-Stat:<br>|...the method calculates t-stats on difference in seven baseline variables listed in Panel A.<br>|