每日简报

为实现人机互补而设计算法建议AI 解读

Algorithms frequently assist, rather than replace, human decision-makers. However, the design and analysis of algorithms often focus on predicting outcomes and do not explicitly model their effect on human decisions. This discrepancy between the design and role of algorithmic assistants becomes particularly concerning in light of empirical evidence that suggests that algorithmic assistants again and again fail to improve human decisions. In this article, we formalize the…

ALCM：自主大语言模型增强的因果发现框架AI 解读

To perform effective causal inference in high-dimensional datasets, initiating the process with causal discovery is imperative, wherein a causal graph is generated based on observational data. However, obtaining a complete and accurate causal graph poses a formidable challenge, recognized as an NP- hard problem. Recently, the advent of Large Language Models (LLMs) has ushered in a new era, indicating their emergent capabilities and widespread applicability in facilitating…

结合随机试验与真实世界数据的平均处理效应自适应 TMLEAI 解读

We consider the problem of estimating the average treatment effect (ATE) when both randomized control trial (RCT) data and external real-world data (RWD) are available. We decompose the ATE estimand as the difference between a pooled-ATE estimand that integrates RCT and RWD and a bias estimand that captures the conditional effect of RCT enrollment on the outcome. We introduce an adaptive targeted maximum likelihood estimation (A-TMLE) framework to estimate them. We prove…

高维混杂下的因果机器学习方法与交叉拟合AI 解读

Observational epidemiological studies commonly seek to estimate the causal effect of an exposure on an outcome. Adjustment for potential confounding bias in modern studies is challenging due to the presence of high-dimensional confounding, which occurs when there are many confounders relative to sample size or complex relationships between continuous confounders and exposure and outcome. Doubly robust methods such as Augmented Inverse Probability Weighting (AIPW) and…

We study difference-in-differences designs in which all units are initially untreated and later receive heterogeneous, strictly positive treatment doses. When quasi-untreated units receive doses close to zero, a difference-in-difference estimand using those units as the control group identifies a weighted average treatment effect per unit of treatment, under a parallel-trends assumption. We develop a nonparametric estimator and bias-corrected confidence intervals for this…

提升航空客户满意度：机器学习与因果分析方法AI 解读

This study explores the enhancement of customer satisfaction in the airline industry, a critical factor for retaining customers and building brand reputation, which are vital for revenue growth. Utilizing a combination of machine learning and causal inference methods, we examine the specific impact of service improvements on customer satisfaction, with a focus on the online boarding pass experience. Through detailed data analysis involving several predictive and causal…

两个参数的符号一致性检验AI 解读

We test the null hypothesis that two parameters $(μ_1,μ_2)$ have the same sign, assuming that (asymptotically) normal estimators $(\hatμ_1,\hatμ_2)$ are available. Examples of this problem include the analysis of heterogeneous treatment effects, causal interpretation of reduced-form estimands, meta-studies, and mediation analysis. A number of tests were recently proposed. We recommend a test that is simple and rejects more often than many of these recent proposals. Like all…

低阶结果模型与聚类设计：网络干扰下结合设计和分析的因果推断AI 解读

Variance reduction for causal inference in the presence of network interference is often achieved through either outcome modeling, typically analyzed under unit-randomized Bernoulli designs, or clustered experimental designs, typically analyzed without strong parametric assumptions. In this work, we study the intersection of these two approaches and make the following threefold contributions. First, we present an estimator of the total treatment effect (or global average…

使用纵向数据研究多种治疗的因果效应：一项模拟研究AI 解读

Many clinical questions involve estimating the effects of multiple treatments using observational data. When using longitudinal data, the interest is often in the effect of treatment strategies that involve sustaining treatment over time. This requires causal inference methods appropriate for handling multiple treatments and time-dependent confounding. Robins Generalised methods (g-methods) are a family of methods which can deal with time-dependent confounding and some of…

含内生解释变量的线性面板模型中的潜在群组结构AI 解读

This paper concerns the estimation of linear panel data models with endogenous regressors and a latent group structure in the coefficients. We consider instrumental variables estimation of the group-specific coefficient vector. We show that direct application of the Kmeans algorithm to the generalized method of moments objective function does not yield unique estimates. We newly develop and theoretically justify two-stage estimation methods that apply the Kmeans algorithm to…

人工智能辅助能否减少医疗过度使用：一项实验研究AI 解读

This study evaluates the effectiveness of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in mitigating medical overtreatment, a significant issue characterized by unnecessary interventions that inflate healthcare costs and pose risks to patients. We conducted a lab-in-the-field experiment at a medical school, utilizing a novel medical prescription task, manipulating monetary incentives and the availability of AI assistance among medical students using a three-by-two factorial design. We…

部分缺失混杂变量的高维多重插补：纳入自然语言处理辅助变量AI 解读

Multiple imputation (MI) models can be improved by including auxiliary covariates (AC), but their performance in high-dimensional data is not well understood. We aimed to develop and compare high-dimensional MI (HDMI) approaches using structured and natural language processing (NLP)-derived AC in studies with partially observed confounders. We conducted a plasmode simulation study using data from opioid vs. non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) initiators (X) with…

交错 DID-IV 设计中的双向固定效应工具变量回归AI 解读

Many studies run two-way fixed effects instrumental variable (TWFEIV) regressions, leveraging variation in the timing of policy adoption across units as an instrument for treatment. This paper studies the properties of the TWFEIV estimator in staggered instrumented difference-in-differences (DID-IV) designs. We show that in settings with the staggered adoption of the instrument across units, the TWFEIV estimator can be decomposed into a weighted average of all possible…

Multi-CATE：对未知协变量分布变化稳健的多重准确条件平均处理效应估计AI 解读

Estimating heterogeneous treatment effects is important to tailor treatments to those individuals who would most likely benefit. However, conditional average treatment effect predictors may often be trained on one population but possibly deployed on different, possibly unknown populations. We use methodology for learning multi-accurate predictors to post-process CATE T-learners (differenced regressions) to become robust to unknown covariate shifts at the time of deployment.…

网络干扰下带聚类的两阶段逐步投放实验设计分析AI 解读

Estimating causal effects under interference is pertinent to many real-world settings. Recent work with low-order potential outcomes models uses a rollout design to obtain unbiased estimators that require no interference network information. However, the required extrapolation can lead to prohibitively high variance. To address this, we propose a two-stage experiment that selects a sub-population in the first stage and restricts treatment rollout to this sub-population in…

多粒度因果效应的综合机器学习AI 解读

Uncovering causal effects in multiple treatment setting at various levels of granularity provides substantial value to decision makers. Comprehensive machine learning approaches to causal effect estimation allow to use a single causal machine learning approach for estimation and inference of causal mean effects for all levels of granularity. Focusing on selection-on-observables, this paper compares three such approaches, the modified causal forest (mcf), the generalized…

校准敏感性模型AI 解读

In causal inference, sensitivity models assess how unmeasured confounders could alter causal analyses, but the sensitivity parameter -- which quantifies the degree of unmeasured confounding -- is often difficult to interpret. For this reason, researchers sometimes compare the sensitivity parameter to an estimate of measured confounding. This is known as calibration, or benchmarking. However, calibrated estimates are not always interpreted correctly, and uncertainty in the…

理想试验：在目标试验模拟与随机试验中平衡因果目标的相关性和可行性AI 解读

Causal inference is the goal of randomized trials and many observational studies. The first step in a formal causal inference framework is to define the causal estimand, and in both types of study this can be intuitively defined as the effect in an ideal trial: a hypothetical perfect randomized experiment (with representative sample, perfect adherence, etc.). The target trial framework is increasingly used for causal inference in observational studies, but clarity is lacking…

基于分位数的非加性固定效应模型AI 解读

I propose a quantile-based nonadditive fixed effects panel model to study heterogeneous causal effects. Similar to standard fixed effects (FE) model, my model allows arbitrary dependence between regressors and unobserved heterogeneity, but it generalizes the additive separability of standard FE to allow the unobserved heterogeneity to enter nonseparably. Similar to structural quantile models, my model's random coefficient vector depends on an unobserved, scalar ''rank''…

断点差分设计：估计、推断与有效性检验AI 解读

This paper provides a formal econometric framework behind the newly developed difference-in-discontinuities design (DiDC). Despite its increasing use in applied research, there are currently limited studies of its properties. We formalize the theory behind the difference-in-discontinuity approach by stating the identification assumptions, proposing a nonparametric estimator, and deriving its asymptotic properties. We also provide comprehensive tests for one of the…

连接二值化与连续暴露：二分连续暴露的因果推断AI 解读

The average treatment effect (ATE) is a common parameter estimated in causal inference literature, but it is only defined for binary exposures. Thus, despite concerns raised by some researchers, many studies seeking to estimate the causal effect of a continuous exposure create a new binary exposure variable by dichotomizing the continuous values into two categories. In this paper, we affirm binarization as a statistically valid method for answering causal questions about…

异质处理效应下的工具变量双重差分AI 解读

Many studies exploit variation in the timing of policy adoption across units as an instrument for treatment. This paper formalizes the underlying identification strategy as an instrumented difference-in-differences (DID-IV). In this design, a Wald-DID estimand, which scales the DID estimand of the outcome by the DID estimand of the treatment, captures the local average treatment effect on the treated (LATET). We extend the canonical DID-IV design to multiple period settings…

基于双重差分的因果持续时间分析AI 解读

In economic program evaluation, it is common to obtain panel data in which outcomes are indicators that an individual has reached an absorbing state. For example, they may indicate whether an individual has exited a period of unemployment, passed an exam, left a marriage, or had their parole revoked. The parallel trends assumption that underpins difference-in-differences generally fails in such settings. We suggest identifying conditions similar to those of…

高维多元纵向数据的潜变量学习方法AI 解读

High-dimensional multivariate longitudinal data, which arise when many outcome variables are measured repeatedly over time, are becoming increasingly common in social, behavioral and health sciences. We propose a latent variable model for drawing statistical inferences on covariate effects and predicting future outcomes based on high-dimensional multivariate longitudinal data. This model introduces unobserved factors to account for the between-variable and across-time…