每日简报

因果推断中系统识别与联合分析多重偏差的路线图AI 解读

Observational studies examining causal effects rely on unverifiable assumptions, the violation of which can induce multiple biases. Quantitative bias analysis (QBA) methods examine the sensitivity of findings to such violations, generally, by producing estimates under alternative assumptions, incorporating external information. Although substantial guidance exists for implementing QBA, there is limited guidance on how to systematically determine the assumptions underlying a…

外部对照单臂试验与非锚定间接治疗比较的双重稳健增广加权估计AI 解读

Externally controlled single-arm trials are critical to assess treatment efficacy across therapeutic indications for which randomized controlled trials are not feasible. A closely-related research design, the unanchored indirect treatment comparison, is often required for disconnected treatment networks in health technology assessment. We present a unified causal inference framework for both research designs. We develop a novel estimator that augments a popular weighting…

因果工具变量模型中的贝叶斯模型平均AI 解读

Instrumental variables are a popular tool to infer causal effects under unobserved confounding, but choosing suitable instruments is challenging in practice. We propose gIVBMA, a Bayesian model averaging procedure that addresses this challenge by averaging across different sets of instrumental variables and covariates in a structural equation model. This allows for data-driven selection of valid and relevant instruments and provides additional robustness against invalid…

利用大量弱交互矩的构造性工具变量识别与推断AI 解读

Instrumental variable methods are widely used for causal inference, but identification becomes especially challenging when instruments are weak and potentially invalid. These challenges are particularly pronounced in Mendelian randomization, where genetic variants serve as instruments and violations of exclusion restriction or independence assumptions are common. We propose MAGIC, a constructive and assumption-lean framework that achieves identification even when all…

检验给定潜变量条件独立性的广义四元约束AI 解读

The tetrad constraint is widely used to test whether four observed variables are conditionally independent given a latent variable, based on the fact that if four observed variables following a linear model are mutually independent after conditioning on an unobserved variable, then products of covariances of any two different pairs of these four variables are equal. It is an important tool for discovering a latent common cause or distinguishing between alternative linear…

多个实验的潜力：识别潜在结果的联合分布AI 解读

Typical causal effects are defined based on the marginal distribution of potential outcomes. However, many real-world applications require causal estimands involving the joint distribution of potential outcomes to enable more nuanced treatment evaluation and selection. In this article, we propose a novel framework for identifying and estimating the joint distribution of potential outcomes using multiple experimental datasets. We introduce the assumption of transportability…

前沿处配置：前沿结构函数识别与平均偏离界限AI 解读

This paper analyzes a model in which an outcome equals a frontier function of inputs minus a nonnegative unobserved deviation. The inputs may be endogenous (statistically dependent on the deviation). If zero lies in the support of the deviation given the inputs -- an assumption we term assignment at the frontier -- then the frontier is identified by the supremum of the outcome given those inputs, obviating the need for instruments. We then consider estimation with random…

有限总体识别与基于设计的敏感性分析AI 解读

We develop a new approach for quantifying uncertainty in finite populations, by using design distributions to calibrate sensitivity parameters in finite population identified sets. This yields uncertainty intervals that can be interpreted as identified sets, robust Bayesian credible sets, or uniform frequentist design-based confidence sets. We focus on quantifying uncertainty about the average treatment effect, where our approach (1) yields design-based confidence intervals…

条件边际效应估计的实用指南：现代方法AI 解读

This Element offers a practical guide to estimating conditional marginal effects-how treatment effects vary with a moderating variable-using modern statistical methods. Commonly used approaches, such as linear interaction models, often suffer from unclarified estimands, limited overlap, and restrictive functional forms. This guide begins by clearly defining the estimand and presenting the main identification results. It then reviews and improves upon existing solutions, such…

非参数回归的稳健经验似然及其断点回归应用AI 解读

Empirical likelihood serves as a powerful tool for constructing confidence intervals in nonparametric regression and regression discontinuity designs (RDD). The original empirical likelihood framework can be naturally extended to these settings using local linear smoothers, with Wilks' theorem holding only when an undersmoothed bandwidth is selected. However, the generalization of bias-corrected versions of empirical likelihood under more realistic conditions is non-trivial…

使用合并逻辑回归的因果生存分析估计方程AI 解读

Background: Pooled logistic regression models are commonly applied in survival analysis. However, the standard implementation can be computationally demanding, which is further exacerbated when using the nonparametric bootstrap for inference. To ease these computational burdens, investigators often coarsen time intervals or assume a parametric functional form for time. These approaches impose restrictive assumptions, which may not always have a well-motivated substantive…

仅含当前治疗的 Cox 模型在因果推断中的局限AI 解读

Cox models with time-varying treatments often include only the current treatment level. Translating such a model into causally meaningful intervention-specific survival probabilities relies on the Markov property: that the hazard is independent of treatment history conditional on current treatment. For the Markov property to not be population-specific, it needs to hold also conditional on any unmeasured prognostic heterogeneity (frailty). Using a discrete-time argument,…

数据丰富环境下的因果推断框架AI 解读

We propose a formal model for counterfactual estimation with unobserved confounding in "data-rich" settings, i.e., where there are a large number of units and a large number of measurements per unit. Our model provides a bridge between the structural causal model view of causal inference common in the graphical models literature with that of the latent factor model view common in the potential outcomes literature. We show how classic models for potential outcomes and…

含交互效应的动态面板模型的全局识别AI 解读

We investigate the problem of global identification in dynamic panel models with interactive effects, in the large-N, fixed-T setting. While local identification, typically established via the Jacobian matrix, is well understood, global identification has remained a more elusive and challenging issue. It is commonly believed to be unachievable in this context. However, we demonstrate that the model is, in fact, globally identified for almost all configurations of the…

存在混杂时的非线性因果发现AI 解读

This article introduces a causal discovery method to learn nonlinear relationships in a directed acyclic graph with correlated Gaussian errors due to confounding. First, we derive model identifiability under the sublinear growth assumption. Then, we propose a novel method, named the Deconfounded Functional Structure Estimation (DeFuSE), consisting of a deconfounding adjustment to remove the confounding effects and a sequential procedure to estimate the causal order of…

分组固定效应模型的简便低计算成本估计量AI 解读

This paper introduces a new fixed effects estimator for linear panel data models with clustered time patterns of unobserved heterogeneity. The method avoids non-convex and combinatorial optimization by combining a preliminary consistent estimator of the slope coefficient, an agglomerative pairwise-differencing clustering of cross-sectional units, and a pooled ordinary least squares regression. Asymptotic guarantees are established in a framework where $T$ can grow at any…

工具变量设计的负对照证伪检验AI 解读

The validity of instrumental variable (IV) designs is typically tested using two types of falsification tests. We characterize these tests as conditional independence tests between negative control variables -- proxies for unobserved variables posing a threat to the identification -- and the IV or the outcome. We describe the conditions that variables must satisfy in order to serve as negative controls. We show that these falsification tests examine not only independence and…

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…

利用市场份额数据估计市场层级参数的非参数混合 Logit 模型AI 解读

We propose a nonparametric mixed logit model that is estimated using market-level choice share data. The model treats each market as an agent and represents taste heterogeneity through market-specific parameters by solving a multiagent inverse utility maximization problem, addressing the limitations of existing market-level choice models with parametric estimation. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the performance of our model in terms of estimation time,…

交错采用双重差分中的融合扩展双向固定效应AI 解读

To address the bias of the canonical two-way fixed effects estimator for difference-in-differences under staggered adoptions, Wooldridge (2021) proposed the extended two-way fixed effects estimator, which adds many parameters. However, this reduces efficiency. Restricting some of these parameters to be equal (for example, subsequent treatment effects within a cohort) helps, but ad hoc restrictions may reintroduce bias. We propose a machine learning estimator with a single…

断点回归设计的统一诊断检验AI 解读

Diagnostic tests for regression discontinuity design face a size-control problem. We document a massive over-rejection of the diagnostic restriction among empirical studies in the top five economics journals. At least one diagnostic test was rejected for 19 out of 59 studies, whereas less than 5% of the collected 787 tests rejected the null hypotheses. In other words, one-third of the studies rejected at least one of their diagnostic tests, whereas their underlying…

应对定量社会学中的未测混杂：敏感性分析框架AI 解读

Unmeasured confounding remains a critical challenge in causal inference for the social sciences. This paper proposes a sensitivity analysis framework to systematically evaluate how unmeasured confounders influence statistical inference in sociology. Given these sensitivity analysis methods, we introduce a five-step workflow that integrates sensitivity analysis into research design rather than treating it as a post-hoc robustness check. Using the Blau and Duncan (1967) study…

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…

聚类网络干扰下的个体化政策评估与学习AI 解读

Although there is now a large literature on policy evaluation and learning, much of the prior work assumes that the treatment assignment of one unit does not affect the outcome of another unit. Unfortunately, ignoring interference can lead to biased policy evaluation and ineffective learned policies. For example, treating influential individuals who have many friends can generate positive spillover effects, thereby improving the overall performance of an individualized…