每日简报

离线强化学习中的投影状态—动作平衡权重AI 解读

Offline policy evaluation (OPE) is considered a fundamental and challenging problem in reinforcement learning (RL). This paper focuses on the value estimation of a target policy based on pre-collected data generated from a possibly different policy, under the framework of infinite-horizon Markov decision processes. Motivated by the recently developed marginal importance sampling method in RL and the covariate balancing idea in causal inference, we propose a novel estimator…

近端中介分析AI 解读

A common concern when trying to draw causal inferences from observational data is that the measured covariates are insufficiently rich to account for all sources of confounding. In practice, many of the covariates may only be proxies of the latent confounding mechanism. Recent work has shown that in certain settings where the standard 'no unmeasured confounding' assumption fails, proxy variables can be leveraged to identify causal effects. Results currently exist for the…

医疗补助人群推广分析中的条件跨设计综合估计量AI 解读

While much of the causal inference literature has focused on addressing internal validity biases, both internal and external validity are necessary for unbiased estimates in a target population of interest. However, few generalizability approaches exist for estimating causal quantities in a target population when the target population is not well-represented by a randomized study but is reflected when additionally incorporating observational data. To generalize to a target…

用于低中收入经济体吸收能力与发展比较的 MSK 面板数据集AI 解读

Within the national innovation system literature, empirical analyses are severely lacking for developing economies. Particularly, the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) eligible for the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) support, are rarely part of any empirical discourse on growth, development, and innovation. One major issue hindering panel analyses in LMICs, and thus them being subject to any empirical discussion, is the lack of complete data…

Student-t 分布自由度参数的贝叶斯估计：一种有益的重参数化AI 解读

In this paper, conditional data augmentation (DA) is investigated for the degrees of freedom parameter $ν$ of a Student-$t$ distribution. Based on a restricted version of the expected augmented Fisher information, it is conjectured that the ancillarity DA is progressively more efficient for MCMC estimation than the sufficiency DA as $ν$ increases; with the break even point lying at as low as $ν\approx4$. The claim is examined further and generalized through a large…

有效连接网络断点的快速检测方法AI 解读

There is increasing interest in identifying changes in the underlying states of brain networks. The availability of large scale neuroimaging data creates a strong need to develop fast, scalable methods for detecting and localizing in time such changes and also identify their drivers, thus enabling neuroscientists to hypothesize about potential mechanisms. This paper presents a fast method for detecting break points in exceedingly long time series neuroimaging data, based on…

估计干扰参数如何降低方差并实现一致方差估计AI 解读

We often estimate a parameter of interest psi when the identifying conditions involve a nuisance parameter theta. Examples from causal inference are Inverse Probability Weighting, Marginal Structural Models and Structural Nested Models. To estimate treatment effects from observational data, these methods posit a (pooled) logistic regression model for the treatment and/or censoring probabilities and estimate these first. These methods are all based on unbiased estimating…

基于异质环境优化的因果估计AI 解读

This paper presents a new optimization approach to causal estimation. Given data that contains covariates and an outcome, which covariates are causes of the outcome, and what is the strength of the causality? In classical machine learning (ML), the goal of optimization is to maximize predictive accuracy. However, some covariates might exhibit a non-causal association with the outcome. Such spurious associations provide predictive power for classical ML, but they prevent us…

重尾高频金融观测下的因子与特质 VAR 波动率矩阵模型AI 解读

This paper introduces a novel process for both factor and idiosyncratic volatility matrices whose eigenvalues follow the vector auto-regressive (VAR) model. We call it the factor and idiosyncratic VAR (FIVAR) model. The FIVAR model accounts for the dynamics of the factor and idiosyncratic volatilities and includes many parameters. In addition, many empirical studies have shown that high-frequency stock returns and volatilities often exhibit heavy tails. To handle these two…

通过营养干预试验的现实模拟评估目标最大似然估计的稳健性AI 解读

Several recently developed methods have the potential to harness machine learning in the pursuit of target quantities inspired by causal inference, including inverse weighting, doubly robust estimating equations and substitution estimators like targeted maximum likelihood estimation. There are even more recent augmentations of these procedures that can increase robustness, by adding a layer of cross-validation (cross-validated targeted maximum likelihood estimation and…

调查实验中的拒绝式抽样、再随机化与回归调整AI 解读

Classical randomized experiments, equipped with randomization-based inference, provide assumption-free inference for treatment effects. They have been the gold standard for drawing causal inference and provide excellent internal validity. However, they have also been criticized for questionable external validity, in the sense that the conclusion may not generalize well to a larger population. The randomized survey experiment is a design tool that can help mitigate this…

统一设计推断：实验中线性估计量方差的界定与估计AI 解读

This paper provides a design-based framework for variance (bound) estimation in experimental analysis. Results are applicable to virtually any combination of experimental design, linear estimator (e.g., difference-in-means, OLS, WLS) and variance bound, allowing for unified treatment and a basis for systematic study and comparison of designs using matrix spectral analysis. A proposed variance estimator reproduces Eicker-Huber-White (aka. "robust", "heteroskedastic…

预测状态的拓扑、收敛与重建AI 解读

Predictive equivalence in discrete stochastic processes have been applied with great success to identify randomness and structure in statistical physics and chaotic dynamical systems and to inferring hidden Markov models. We examine the conditions under which they can be reliably reconstructed from time-series data, showing that convergence of predictive states can be achieved from empirical samples in the weak topology of measures. Moreover, predictive states may be…

This paper provides an introduction to structural estimation methods for matching markets with transferable utility.

健康差异因果分解的估计方法选择AI 解读

Causal decomposition analysis provides a way to identify mediators that contribute to health disparities between marginalized and non-marginalized groups. In particular, the degree to which a disparity would be reduced or remain after intervening on a mediator is of interest. Yet, estimating disparity reduction and remaining might be challenging for many researchers, possibly because there is a lack of understanding of how each estimation method differs from other methods.…

正则变换时间序列聚簇泛函的估计：游程估计量AI 解读

Cluster indices describe extremal behaviour of stationary time series. We consider runs estimators of cluster indices. Using a modern theory of multivariate, regularly varying time series, we obtain central limit theorems under conditions that can be easily verified for a large class of models. In particular, we show that blocks and runs estimators have the same limiting variance.

利用深度可识别模型开展有原则的因果效应估计AI 解读

As an important problem in causal inference, we discuss the estimation of treatment effects (TEs). Representing the confounder as a latent variable, we propose Intact-VAE, a new variant of variational autoencoder (VAE), motivated by the prognostic score that is sufficient for identifying TEs. Our VAE also naturally gives representations balanced for treatment groups, using its prior. Experiments on (semi-)synthetic datasets show state-of-the-art performance under diverse…

融合序列神经网络与统计方法改进时间序列预测的两条路径AI 解读

Statistic modeling and data-driven learning are the two vital fields that attract many attentions. Statistic models intend to capture and interpret the relationships among variables, while data-based learning attempt to extract information directly from the data without pre-processing through complex models. Given the extensive studies in both fields, a subtle issue is how to properly integrate data based methods with existing knowledge or models. In this paper, based on the…

多种间歇性治疗的因果效应估计及其新冠应用AI 解读

To draw real-world evidence about the comparative effectiveness of multiple time-varying treatments on patient survival, we develop a joint marginal structural survival model and a novel weighting strategy to account for time-varying confounding and censoring. Our methods formulate complex longitudinal treatments with multiple start/stop switches as the recurrent events with discontinuous intervals of treatment eligibility. We derive the weights in continuous time to handle…

最优子群选择AI 解读

In clinical trials and other applications, we often see regions of the feature space that appear to exhibit interesting behaviour, but it is unclear whether these observed phenomena are reflected at the population level. Focusing on a regression setting, we consider the subgroup selection challenge of identifying a region of the feature space on which the regression function exceeds a pre-determined threshold. We formulate the problem as one of constrained optimisation,…

高维高斯线性回归中正则化路径变量选择的综合指南AI 解读

This paper provides a comprehensive comparison of complete regularization-path-based variable selection procedures in high-dimensional Gaussian linear regression. Our simulation study stands out from previous ones for several reasons. First, it offers comprehensive guidelines for complete variable selection, from regularization path construction to final variable subset selection. In particular, we compare jointly two convex regularization functions (Lasso and Elastic-Net)…

在回归中使用增值指标的分析框架AI 解读

As increasingly popular metrics of worker and institutional quality, estimated value-added (VA) measures are now widely used as dependent or explanatory variables in regressions. For example, VA is used as an explanatory variable when examining the relationship between teacher VA and students' long-run outcomes. Due to the multi-step nature of VA estimation, the standard errors (SEs) researchers routinely use when including VA measures in OLS regressions are incorrect. In…

利用多变量孟德尔随机化分离共享聚集遗传预测因子的性状效应AI 解读

When genetic variants in a gene cluster are associated with a disease outcome, the causal pathway from the variants to the outcome can be difficult to disentangle. For example, the chemokine receptor gene cluster contains genetic variants associated with various cytokines. Associations between variants in this cluster and stroke risk may be driven by any of these cytokines. Multivariable Mendelian randomization is an extension of standard univariable Mendelian randomization…

随机试验推断向目标人群扩展时的异质性处理效应回归估计AI 解读

Methods for extending -- generalizing or transporting -- inferences from a randomized trial to a target population involve conditioning on a large set of covariates that is sufficient for rendering the randomized and non-randomized groups exchangeable. Yet, decision-makers are often interested in examining treatment effects in subgroups of the target population defined in terms of only a few discrete covariates. Here, we propose methods for estimating subgroup-specific…