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如何解释近期双重差分方法的事件研究图AI 解读

This note discusses the interpretation of event-study plots produced by recent difference-in-differences methods. I show that even when specialized to the case of non-staggered treatment timing, the default plots produced by software for several of the most popular recent methods do not match those of traditional two-way fixed effects (TWFE) event-studies. The plots produced by the new methods may show a kink or jump at the time of treatment even when the TWFE event-study…

我们遗漏了谁？识别代表性不足人群的系统方法AI 解读

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) serve as the cornerstone for understanding causal effects, yet extending inferences to target populations presents challenges due to effect heterogeneity and underrepresentation. Our paper addresses the critical issue of identifying and characterizing underrepresented subgroups in RCTs, proposing a novel framework for refining target populations to improve generalizability. We introduce an optimization-based approach, Rashomon Set of…

用于因果发现的函数型线性非高斯无环模型AI 解读

In causal discovery, non-Gaussianity has been used to characterize the complete configuration of a Linear Non-Gaussian Acyclic Model (LiNGAM), encompassing both the causal ordering of variables and their respective connection strengths. However, LiNGAM can only deal with the finite-dimensional case. To expand this concept, we extend the notion of variables to encompass vectors and even functions, leading to the Functional Linear Non-Gaussian Acyclic Model (Func-LiNGAM). Our…

Dagma-DCE：可解释的非参数可微因果发现AI 解读

We introduce Dagma-DCE, an interpretable and model-agnostic scheme for differentiable causal discovery. Current non- or over-parametric methods in differentiable causal discovery use opaque proxies of ``independence'' to justify the inclusion or exclusion of a causal relationship. We show theoretically and empirically that these proxies may be arbitrarily different than the actual causal strength. Juxtaposed to existing differentiable causal discovery algorithms,…

连续暴露因果效应曲线的多重稳健双重差分估计AI 解读

Researchers commonly use difference-in-differences (DiD) designs to evaluate public policy interventions. While methods exist for estimating effects in the context of binary interventions, policies often result in varied exposures across regions implementing the policy. Yet, existing approaches for incorporating continuous exposures face substantial limitations in addressing confounding variables associated with intervention status, exposure levels, and outcome trends. These…

重复结果结构嵌套均值模型中效应修饰变量选择的惩罚 G 估计AI 解读

Effect modification occurs when the impact of the treatment on an outcome varies based on the levels of other covariates known as effect modifiers. Modeling these effect differences is important for etiological goals and for purposes of optimizing treatment. Structural nested mean models (SNMMs) are useful causal models for estimating the potentially heterogeneous effect of a time-varying exposure on the mean of an outcome in the presence of time-varying confounding. A…

通过序贯调整混杂与样本流失恢复因果效应并开展推断AI 解读

Confounding bias and selection bias bring two significant challenges to the validity of conclusions drawn from applied causal inference. The latter can stem from informative missingness, such as in cases of attrition. We introduce the Sequential Adjustment Criteria (SAC), which extend available graphical conditions for recovering causal effects from confounding and attrition using sequential regressions, allowing for the inclusion of post-exposure and forbidden variables in…

结合实验与观察数据进行长期政策评估的夹逼关系AI 解读

Combining short-term experimental data with observational data enables credible long-term policy evaluation. The literature offers two key but non-nested assumptions, namely the latent unconfoundedness (LU; Athey et al., 2020) and equi-confounding bias (ECB; Ghassami et al., 2022) conditions, to correct observational selection. Committing to the wrong assumption leads to biased estimation. To mitigate such risks, we provide a novel bracketing relationship (cf. Angrist and…

缺失面板数据的逐元素推断：一种简单且实例最优的方法AI 解读

Longitudinal or panel data can be represented as a matrix with rows indexed by units and columns indexed by time. We consider inferential questions associated with the missing data version of panel data induced by staggered adoption. We propose a computationally efficient procedure for estimation, involving only simple matrix algebra and singular value decomposition, and prove non-asymptotic and high-probability bounds on its error in estimating each missing entry. By…

如何用模型方法实现阶梯楔形试验的模型稳健推断？AI 解读

A stepped wedge design is a unidirectional crossover design where clusters are randomized to distinct treatment sequences. While model-based analysis of stepped wedge designs is standard practice to evaluate treatment effects accounting for clustering and adjusting for covariates, their properties under misspecification have not been systematically explored. In this article, we focus on model-based methods, including linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations…

多重随机化设计：存在干扰时的估计与推断AI 解读

Classical designs of randomized experiments, going back to Fisher and Neyman in the 1930s still dominate practice even in online experimentation. However, such designs are of limited value for answering standard questions in settings, common in marketplaces, where multiple populations of agents interact strategically, leading to complex patterns of spillover effects. In this paper, we discuss new experimental designs and corresponding estimands to account for and capture…

ICH E9（R1）框架下随机试验累积发生率与处理效应的推断AI 解读

In randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that focus on time-to-event outcomes, intercurrent events can arise in two ways: as semi-competing events, which modify the hazard of the primary outcome events, or as competing events, which make the definition of the primary outcome events unclear. Although five strategies have been proposed in the ICH E9 (R1) addendum to address intercurrent events in RCTs, these strategies are not easily applicable to time-to-event outcomes when…

利用改进安慰剂检验进行合成控制推断AI 解读

The synthetic control method is often applied to problems with one treated unit and a small number of control units. A common inferential task in this setting is to test null hypotheses regarding the average treatment effect on the treated. Inference procedures that are justified asymptotically are often unsatisfactory due to (1) small sample sizes that render large-sample approximation fragile and (2) simplification of the estimation procedure that is implemented in…

反悔孪生：处理中介分析中的中间混杂AI 解读

The presence of intermediate confounders, also called recanting witnesses, is a fundamental challenge to the investigation of causal mechanisms in mediation analysis, preventing the identification of natural path-specific effects. Proposed alternative parameters (such as randomizational interventional effects) are problematic because they can be non-null even when there is no mediation for any individual in the population; i.e., they are not an average of underlying…

正态误差面板 Tobit 模型的工具变量估计AI 解读

Amemiya (1973) proposed a ``consistent initial estimator'' for the parameters in a censored regression model with normal errors. This paper demonstrates that a similar approach can be used to construct moment conditions for fixed--effects versions of the model considered by Amemiya. This result suggests estimators for models that have not previously been considered.

高维环境中存在未观测混杂时的有效因果推断AI 解读

Various methods have recently been proposed to estimate causal effects with confidence intervals that are uniformly valid over a set of data generating processes when high-dimensional nuisance models are estimated by post-model-selection or machine learning estimators. These methods typically require that all the confounders are observed to ensure identification of the effects. We contribute by showing how valid semiparametric inference can be obtained in the presence of…

随机对照试验中风险比的不可折叠性与内生选择偏差AI 解读

Background: The hazard ratio of the Cox proportional hazards model is widely used in randomized controlled trials to assess treatment effects. However, two properties of the hazard ratio including the non-collapsibility and built-in selection bias need to be further investigated. Methods: We conduct simulations to differentiate the non-collapsibility effect and built-in selection bias from the difference between the marginal and the conditional hazard ratio. Meanwhile, we…

利用 GWAS 汇总数据估计遗传高斯网络AI 解读

Genetic Gaussian network of multiple phenotypes constructed through the genetic correlation matrix is informative for understanding their biological dependencies. However, its interpretation may be challenging because the estimated genetic correlations are biased due to estimation errors and horizontal pleiotropy inherent in GWAS summary statistics. Here we introduce a novel approach called Estimation of Genetic Graph (EGG), which eliminates the estimation error bias and…

通过条件熵恢复因果分层AI 解读

Causal discovery aims to recover information about an unobserved causal graph from the observable data it generates. Layerings are orderings of the variables which place causes before effects. In this paper, we provide ways to recover layerings of a graph by accessing the data via a conditional entropy oracle, when distributions are discrete. Our algorithms work by repeatedly removing sources or sinks from the graph. Under appropriate assumptions and conditioning, we can…

工具变量模型中的假设与界限AI 解读

In this note we give proofs for results relating to the Instrumental Variable (IV) model with binary response $Y$ and binary treatment $X$, but with an instrument $Z$ with $K$ states. These results were originally stated in Richardson & Robins (2014), "ACE Bounds; SEMS with Equilibrium Conditions," arXiv:1410.0470.

通过反演估计方程进行分位数因果推断AI 解读

The causal inference literature frequently focuses on estimating the mean of the potential outcome, whereas quantiles of the potential outcome may carry important additional information. We propose a unified approach, based on the inverse estimating equations, to generalize a class of causal inference solutions from estimating the mean of the potential outcome to its quantiles. We assume that a moment function is available to identify the mean of the threshold-transformed…

使用局部模型的不变因果预测AI 解读

We consider the task of identifying the causal parents of a target variable among a set of candidates from observational data. Our main assumption is that the candidate variables are observed in different environments which may, under certain assumptions, be regarded as interventions on the observed system. We assume a linear relationship between target and candidates, which can be different in each environment with the only restriction that the causal structure is invariant…

面向高维因果推断的深度因果生成模型模块化学习AI 解读

Sound and complete algorithms have been proposed to compute identifiable causal queries using the causal structure and data. However, most of these algorithms assume accurate estimation of the data distribution, which is impractical for high-dimensional variables such as images. On the other hand, modern deep generative architectures can be trained to sample from high-dimensional distributions. However, training these networks are typically very costly. Thus, it is desirable…

用于调节效应分析的因果机器学习AI 解读

It is valuable for any decision maker to know the impact of decisions (treatments) on average and for subgroups. The causal machine learning literature has recently provided tools for estimating group average treatment effects (GATE) to better describe treatment heterogeneity. This paper addresses the challenge of interpreting such differences in treatment effects between groups while accounting for variations in other covariates. We propose a new parameter, the balanced…