每日简报

连接政策学习中的经验福利最大化与条件平均处理效应估计AI 解读

The goal of policy learning is to train a policy function that recommends a treatment given covariates to maximize population welfare. There are two major approaches in policy learning: the empirical welfare maximization (EWM) approach and the plug-in approach. The EWM approach is analogous to a classification problem, where one first builds an estimator of the population welfare, which is a functional of policy functions, and then trains a policy by maximizing the estimated…

因果推断的统一理论：通过 Bregman-Riesz 回归实现直接去偏机器学习AI 解读

This note introduces a unified theory for causal inference that integrates Riesz regression, covariate balancing, density-ratio estimation (DRE), targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE), and the matching estimator in average treatment effect (ATE) estimation. In ATE estimation, the balancing weights and the regression functions of the outcome play important roles, where the balancing weights are referred to as the Riesz representer, bias-correction term, and clever…

右删失持续时间模型的外生性检验AI 解读

Consider the setting in which a researcher is interested in the causal effect of a treatment $Z$ on a duration time $T$, which is subject to right censoring. We assume that $T=\varphi(X,Z,U)$, where $X$ is a vector of baseline covariates, $\varphi(X,Z,U)$ is strictly increasing in the error term $U$ for each $(X,Z)$ and $U\sim \mathcal{U}[0,1]$. Therefore, the model is nonparametric and nonseparable. We propose nonparametric tests for the hypothesis that $Z$ is exogenous,…

基于群组匹配的因果推断AI 解读

This paper examines methods of causal inference based on groupwise matching when we observe multiple large groups of individuals over several periods. We formulate causal inference validity through a generalized matching condition, generalizing the parallel trend assumption in difference-in-differences designs. We show that difference-in-differences, synthetic control, and synthetic difference-in-differences designs are distinguished by the specific matching conditions that…

发现具有空间结构的时间序列之间的因果关系AI 解读

Causal discovery is the subfield of causal inference concerned with estimating the structure of cause-and-effect relationships in a system of interrelated variables, as opposed to quantifying the strength or describing the form of causal effects. As interest in causal discovery builds in fields such as ecology, public health, and environmental sciences where data are regularly collected with spatial and temporal structures, approaches must evolve to manage autocorrelation…

检验双重差分平行趋势违背时的有效推断AI 解读

The difference-in-differences (DID) research design is a key identification strategy which allows researchers to estimate causal effects under the parallel trends assumption. While the parallel trends assumption is counterfactual and cannot be tested directly, researchers often examine pre-treatment periods to check whether the time trends are parallel before treatment is administered. A recent literature has shown that existing preliminary tests have adverse effects on…

边界不连续设计中的估计与推断：基于距离的方法AI 解读

We study nonparametric distance-based (isotropic) local polynomial methods for estimating the boundary average treatment effect curve, a causal functional that captures treatment effect heterogeneity in boundary discontinuity designs. We establish identification, estimation, and inference results both pointwise and uniformly along the treatment assignment boundary. We show that the geometric regularity of the boundary, a one-dimensional manifold, plays a central role in…

结合时空建模与惩罚经验似然的预测型因果推断AI 解读

This study introduces an integrated framework for predictive causal inference designed to overcome limitations inherent in conventional single model approaches. Specifically, we combine a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) for spatial health state estimation with a Multi Task and Multi Graph Convolutional Network (MTGCN) for capturing temporal outcome trajectories. The framework asymmetrically treats temporal and spatial information regarding them as endogenous variables in the…

无需指定网络结构的同伴效应检验AI 解读

This paper proposes an Anderson-Rubin (AR) test for the presence of peer effects in panel data without the need to specify the network structure. The unrestricted model of our test is a linear panel data model of social interactions with dyad-specific peer effect coefficients for all potential peers. The proposed AR test evaluates if these peer effect coefficients are all zero. As the number of peer effect coefficients increases with the sample size, so does the number of…

评估自适应风险预测模型临床影响的准实验设计AI 解读

Clinical risk prediction is a valuable tool for guiding healthcare interventions toward those most likely to benefit. Yet, evaluating the pairing of a risk prediction model with an intervention using randomized controlled trials presents substantial challenges, making quasi-experimental designs an attractive alternatives. Existing designs, however, assume that both the model and the decision rules used to trigger interventions (typically a risk threshold) remain fixed. This…

通过最小化 Bregman 散度实现直接去偏机器学习AI 解读

We develop a direct debiased machine learning framework comprising Neyman targeted estimation and generalized Riesz regression. Our framework unifies Riesz regression for automatic debiased machine learning, covariate balancing, targeted maximum likelihood estimation (TMLE), and density-ratio estimation. In many problems involving causal effects or structural models, the parameters of interest depend on regression functions. Plugging regression functions estimated by machine…