每日简报

用反事实逻辑恢复存在选择偏差的实验数据AI 解读

Selection bias, arising from the systematic inclusion or exclusion of certain samples, poses a significant challenge to the validity of causal inference. While Bareinboim et al. introduced methods for recovering unbiased observational and interventional distributions from biased data using partial external information, the complexity of the backdoor adjustment and the method's strong reliance on observational data limit its applicability in many practical settings. In this…

自然语言的孤立因果效应AI 解读

As language technologies become widespread, it is important to understand how changes in language affect reader perceptions and behaviors. These relationships may be formalized as the isolated causal effect of some focal language-encoded intervention (e.g., factual inaccuracies) on an external outcome (e.g., readers' beliefs). In this paper, we introduce a formal estimation framework for isolated causal effects of language. We show that a core challenge of estimating…

近端间接比较AI 解读

We consider the problem of indirect comparison, where a treatment arm of interest is absent by design in one randomized controlled trial but available in the other. The former is the target trial, and the latter is the source trial. The identifiability of the target population average treatment effect often relies on conditional transportability assumptions. However, it is a common concern whether all relevant effect modifiers are measured and controlled for. We give a new…

多评分断点回归设计中的森林方法AI 解读

We discuss estimation and inference of conditional treatment effects in regression discontinuity (RD) designs with multiple scores. In addition to local linear regressions and the minimax-optimal estimator more recently proposed by Imbens and Wager (2019), we argue that two variants of random forests, honest regression forests and local linear forests, should be added to the toolkit of applied researchers working with multivariate RD designs; their validity follows from…

用于双重差分的森林：超越参数模型的因果推断AI 解读

This paper introduces the Difference-in-Differences Bayesian Causal Forest (DiD-BCF), a novel non-parametric model addressing key challenges in DiD estimation, such as staggered adoption and heterogeneous treatment effects. DiD-BCF provides a unified framework for estimating Average (ATE), Group-Average (GATE), and Conditional Average Treatment Effects (CATE). A core innovation, its Parallel Trends Assumption (PTA)-based reparameterization, enhances estimation accuracy and…

评价时变处理效应的随机化方法AI 解读

Tests for paired censored outcomes have been extensively studied, with some justified in the context of randomization-based inference. These tests are primarily designed to detect an overall treatment effect across the entire follow-up period, providing limited insight into when the effect manifests and how it changes over time. In this article, we introduce new randomization-based tests for paired censored outcomes that enable both time-specific and long-term analysis of a…

利用因果速度模型区分原因与结果AI 解读

Bivariate structural causal models (SCM) are often used to infer causal direction by examining their goodness-of-fit under restricted model classes. In this paper, we describe a parametrization of bivariate SCMs in terms of a causal velocity by viewing the cause variable as time in a dynamical system. The velocity implicitly defines counterfactual curves via the solution of initial value problems where the observation specifies the initial condition. Using tools from measure…

含交互效应动态面板模型的准极大似然估计效率AI 解读

This paper studies the problem of efficient estimation of panel data models in the presence of an increasing number of incidental parameters. We formulate the dynamic panel as a simultaneous equations system, and derive the efficiency bound under the normality assumption. We then show that the Gaussian quasi-maximum likelihood estimator (QMLE) applied to the system achieves the normality efficiency bound without the normality assumption. Comparison of QMLE with the fixed…

条件三重差分法AI 解读

Triple difference-in-differences designs are widely used to estimate causal effects in empirical work. Surveying the literature, we find that most applications include controls. We show that this standard practice is generally biased for the target causal estimand when covariate distributions differ across groups. To address this, we propose identifying a causal estimand by fixing the covariate distribution to that of one group. We then develop a double-robust estimator and…

因果发现优于随机猜测吗？评估算法时使用负对照AI 解读

New proposals for causal discovery algorithms are typically evaluated using simulations and a few selected real data examples with known data generating mechanisms. However, there does not exist a general guideline for how such evaluation studies should be designed, and therefore, comparing results across different studies can be difficult. In this article, we propose to use negative controls as a common evaluation baseline by posing the question: Are we doing better than…

因果推断中的泛化能力检验AI 解读

Ensuring robust model performance in diverse real-world scenarios requires addressing generalizability across domains with covariate shifts. However, no formal procedure exists for statistically evaluating generalizability in machine learning algorithms. Existing predictive metrics like mean squared error (MSE) help to quantify the relative performance between models, but do not directly answer whether a model can or cannot generalize. To address this gap in the domain of…

基于局部回归潜在结果插补的条件平均处理效应估计AI 解读

One of the most significant challenges in Conditional Average Treatment Effect (CATE) estimation is the statistical discrepancy between distinct treatment groups. To address this issue, we propose a model-agnostic data augmentation method for CATE estimation. First, we derive regret bounds for general data augmentation methods suggesting that a small imputation error may be necessary for accurate CATE estimation. Inspired by this idea, we propose a contrastive learning…

使用不动点树的广义随机森林AI 解读

We propose a computationally efficient alternative to generalized random forests (GRFs) for estimating heterogeneous effects in large dimensions. While GRFs rely on a gradient-based splitting criterion, which in large dimensions is computationally expensive and unstable, our method introduces a fixed-point approximation that eliminates the need for Jacobian estimation. This gradient-free approach preserves GRF's theoretical guarantees of consistency and asymptotic normality…

处理历史部分可观测时动态处理效应的识别AI 解读

This paper presents a general difference-in-differences framework for identifying path-dependent treatment effects when treatment histories are partially observed. We introduce a novel robust estimator that adjusts for missing histories using a combination of outcome, propensity score, and missing treatment models. We show that this approach identifies the target parameter as long as \textit{any two} of the three models are correctly specified. The method delivers improved…

高维面板数据中的分位数处理效应AI 解读

We introduce novel estimators for quantile causal effects with high dimensional panel data (large $N$ and $T$), where only one or a few units are affected by the intervention or policy. Our method extends the generalized synthetic control method \citep{xu_2017} from average treatment effects on the treated to quantile treatment effects on the treated, allowing the underlying factor structure to change across the quantile of the interested outcome distribution. Our method…

二元结果随机实验精确置信区间的快速计算AI 解读

Given a randomized experiment with binary outcomes, exact confidence intervals for the average causal effect of the treatment can be computed through a series of permutation tests. This approach requires minimal assumptions and is valid for all sample sizes, as it does not rely on large-sample approximations such as those implied by the central limit theorem. We show that these confidence intervals can be found in $O(n \log n)$ permutation tests in the case of balanced…

异质性、不确定性与学习：半参数识别和估计AI 解读

We provide identification results for a broad class of learning models in which continuous outcomes depend on three types of unobservables: known heterogeneity, initially unknown heterogeneity that may be revealed over time, and transitory uncertainty. We consider a common environment where the researcher only has access to a short panel on choices and realized outcomes. We establish identification of the outcome equation parameters and the distribution of the unobservables,…

利用专家混合模型估计依从者平均因果效应AI 解读

Treatment non-compliance, where individuals deviate from their assigned experimental conditions, frequently complicates the estimation of causal effects. To address this, we introduce a novel learning framework based on a mixture of experts architecture to estimate the Complier Average Causal Effect (CACE). Our framework provides a flexible alternative to classical instrumental variable methods by relaxing their strict monotonicity and exclusion restriction assumptions. We…

网络干扰下异质处理效应的随机化推断AI 解读

We develop randomization-based tests for heterogeneous treatment effects in the presence of network interference. Leveraging the exposure mapping framework, we study a broad class of null hypotheses that represent various forms of constant treatment effects in networked populations. These null hypotheses, unlike the classical Fisher sharp null, are not sharp due to unknown parameters and multiple potential outcomes. Existing conditional randomization procedures either fail…

含暴露测量误差的灵活高效因果效应估计：控制变量法AI 解读

Exposure measurement error is a ubiquitous but often overlooked challenge in causal inference with observational data. Existing methods accounting for exposure measurement error largely rely on restrictive parametric assumptions, while emerging data-adaptive estimation approaches allow for less restrictive assumptions but at the cost of flexibility, as they are typically tailored towards rigidly-defined statistical quantities. There remains a critical need for…

在帮助有需要者的同时学习处理效应AI 解读

Many social programs attempt to allocate scarce resources to people with the greatest need. Indeed, public services increasingly use algorithmic risk assessments motivated by this goal. However, targeting the highest-need recipients often conflicts with attempting to evaluate the causal effect of the program as a whole, as the best evaluations would be obtained by randomizing the allocation. We propose a framework to design randomized allocation rules which optimally balance…

基于约束的因果学习：正确性条件的一般框架AI 解读

Most constraint-based causal learning algorithms provably return the correct causal graph under certain correctness conditions, such as faithfulness. By representing any constraint-based causal learning algorithm using the notion of a property, we provide a general framework to obtain and study correctness conditions for these algorithms. From the framework, we provide exact correctness conditions for the PC algorithm, which are then related to the correctness conditions of…

阈值未知时的贝叶斯断点回归设计AI 解读

The regression discontinuity design (RDD) is a quasi-experimental approach used to estimate the causal effects of an intervention assigned based on a cutoff criterion. RDD exploits the idea that close to the cutoff units below and above are similar; hence, they can be meaningfully compared. Consequently, the causal effect can be estimated only locally at the cutoff point. This makes the cutoff point an essential element of RDD. However, the exact cutoff location may not…

函数型因果效应的核估计方法AI 解读

We propose causal effect estimators based on empirical Fréchet means and operator-valued kernels, tailored to functional data spaces. These methods address the challenges of high-dimensionality, sequential ordering, and model complexity while preserving robustness to treatment misspecification. Using structural assumptions, we obtain compact representations of potential outcomes, enabling scalable estimation of causal effects over time and across covariates. We provide both…