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多变量纵向数据因果推断的张量补全：重新评估疫情管制措施AI 解读

We propose a new method that uses tensor completion to estimate causal effects with multivariate longitudinal data, data in which multiple outcomes are observed for each unit and time period. Our motivation is to estimate the number of COVID-19 fatalities prevented by government mandates such as travel restrictions, mask-wearing directives, and vaccination requirements. In addition to COVID-19 fatalities, we observe related outcomes such as the number of fatalities from…

离散选择的图方法AI 解读

Choices made by individuals have widespread impacts--for instance, people choose between political candidates to vote for, between social media posts to share, and between brands to purchase--moreover, data on these choices are increasingly abundant. Discrete choice models are a key tool for learning individual preferences from such data. Additionally, social factors like conformity and contagion influence individual choice. Traditional methods for incorporating these…

混杂变量维度增长时利用神经网络推断一般处理效应AI 解读

Semiparametric efficient estimation of various multi-valued causal effects, including quantile treatment effects, is important in economic, biomedical, and other social sciences. Under the unconfoundedness condition, adjustment for confounders requires estimating the nuisance functions relating outcome or treatment to confounders nonparametrically. This paper considers a generalized optimization framework for efficient estimation of general treatment effects using artificial…

随机实验中一般回归调整的去相关方法AI 解读

We study regression adjustment with general function class approximations for estimating the average treatment effect in the design-based setting. Standard regression adjustment involves bias due to sample re-use, and this bias leads to behavior that is sub-optimal in the sample size, and/or imposes restrictive assumptions. Our main contribution is to introduce a novel decorrelation-based approach that circumvents these issues. We prove guarantees, both asymptotic and…

利用最优传输估计潜在结果联合分布的泛函AI 解读

Many causal parameters depend on a moment of the joint distribution of potential outcomes. Such parameters are especially relevant in policy evaluation settings, where noncompliance is common and accommodated through the model of Imbens & Angrist (1994). This paper shows that the sharp identified set for these parameters is an interval with endpoints characterized by the value of optimal transport problems. Sample analogue estimators are proposed based on the dual problem of…

反事实结果的正交预测AI 解读

Orthogonal meta-learners, such as DR-learner, R-learner and IF-learner, are increasingly used to estimate conditional average treatment effects. They improve convergence rates relative to naïve meta-learners (e.g., T-, S- and X-learner) through de-biasing procedures that involve applying standard learners to specifically transformed outcome data. This leads them to disregard the possibly constrained outcome space, which can be particularly problematic for dichotomous…

合并多项随机试验估计异质性处理效应的方法比较AI 解读

Individualized treatment decisions can improve health outcomes, but using data to make these decisions in a reliable, precise, and generalizable way is challenging with a single dataset. Leveraging multiple randomized controlled trials allows for the combination of datasets with unconfounded treatment assignment to better estimate heterogeneous treatment effects. This paper discusses several non-parametric approaches for estimating heterogeneous treatment effects using data…

含零值时如何取对数？若干问题与解决办法AI 解读

When studying an outcome $Y$ that is weakly-positive but can equal zero (e.g. earnings), researchers frequently estimate an average treatment effect (ATE) for a "log-like" transformation that behaves like $\log(Y)$ for large $Y$ but is defined at zero (e.g. $\log(1+Y)$, $\mathrm{arcsinh}(Y)$). We argue that ATEs for log-like transformations should not be interpreted as approximating percentage effects, since unlike a percentage, they depend on the units of the outcome. In…

部分识别下局部渐近极小极大的统计处理规则AI 解读

Policymakers often desire a statistical treatment rule (STR) that determines a treatment assignment rule deployed in a future population from available data. With the true knowledge of the data generating process, the average treatment effect (ATE) is the key quantity characterizing the optimal treatment rule. Unfortunately, the ATE is often not point identified but partially identified. Presuming the partial identification of the ATE, this study conducts a local asymptotic…

用于函数型数据因果结构学习的核独立性检验AI 解读

Measurements of systems taken along a continuous functional dimension, such as time or space, are ubiquitous in many fields, from the physical and biological sciences to economics and engineering.Such measurements can be viewed as realisations of an underlying smooth process sampled over the continuum. However, traditional methods for independence testing and causal learning are not directly applicable to such data, as they do not take into account the dependence along the…

随机试验中利用历史数据的高效预后调整AI 解读

Although randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a cornerstone of comparative effectiveness, they typically have much smaller sample size than observational studies because of financial and ethical considerations. Therefore there is interest in using plentiful historical data (either observational data or prior trials) to reduce trial sizes. Previous estimators developed for this purpose rely on unrealistic assumptions, without which the added data can bias the treatment…

匹配数量随样本增长的倾向得分匹配AI 解读

This paper reexamines Abadie and Imbens (2016)'s work on propensity score matching for average treatment effect estimation. We explore the asymptotic behavior of these estimators when the number of nearest neighbors, $M$, grows with the sample size. It is shown, hardly surprising but technically nontrivial, that the modified estimators can improve upon the original fixed-$M$ estimators in terms of efficiency. Additionally, we demonstrate the potential to attain the…

有偏数据下的个体因果归因AI 解读

We consider the problem of assessing whether, in an individual case, there is a causal relationship between an observed exposure and a response variable. When data are available on similar individuals we may be able to estimate prospective probabilities, but even under ideal conditions these are typically inadequate to identify the "probability of causation": instead we can only derive bounds for this. These bounds can be improved or amended when we have information on…

干预概率分布的公理化AI 解读

Causal intervention is an essential tool in causal inference. It is axiomatized under the rules of do-calculus in the case of structure causal models. We provide simple axiomatizations for families of probability distributions to be different types of interventional distributions. Our axiomatizations neatly lead to a simple and clear theory of causality that has several advantages: it does not need to make use of any modeling assumptions such as those imposed by structural…

可能误设的边际结构 Cox 模型下的双重稳健估计AI 解读

In this paper we address the challenges posed by non-proportional hazards and informative censoring, offering a path toward more meaningful causal inference conclusions. We start from the marginal structural Cox model, which has been widely used for analyzing observational studies with survival outcomes, and typically relies on the inverse probability weighting method. The latter hinges upon a propensity score model for the treatment assignment, and a censoring model which…

含不可观测因子的随机信用评级迁移模型：复合似然估计AI 解读

We introduce the conditional Maximum Composite Likelihood (MCL) estimation method for the stochastic factor ordered Probit model of credit rating transitions of firms. This model is recommended for internal credit risk assessment procedures in banks and financial institutions under the Basel III regulations. Its exact likelihood function involves a high-dimensional integral, which can be approximated numerically before maximization. However, the estimated migration risk and…

面板数据回归模型的最优估计方法综述AI 解读

This survey study discusses main aspects to optimal estimation methodologies for panel data regression models. In particular, we present current methodological developments for modeling stationary panel data as well as robust methods for estimation and inference in nonstationary panel data regression models. Some applications from the network econometrics and high dimensional statistics literature are also discussed within a stationary time series environment.

次伽马噪声度序列下网络模型的渐近性质AI 解读

For the differential privacy under the sub-Gamma noise, we derive the asymptotic properties of a class of network models with binary values with a general link function. In this paper, we release the degree sequences of the binary networks under a general noisy mechanism with the discrete Laplace mechanism as a special case. We establish the asymptotic result including both consistency and asymptotically normality of the parameter estimator when the number of parameters goes…

匹配设计中的协变量自适应随机化推断AI 解读

It is common to conduct causal inference in matched observational studies by proceeding as though treatment assignments within matched sets are assigned uniformly at random and using this distribution as the basis for inference. This approach ignores observed discrepancies in matched sets that may be consequential for the distribution of treatment, which are succinctly captured by within-set differences in the propensity score. We address this problem via covariate-adaptive…

函数型结果的因果推断AI 解读

This paper presents methods to study the causal effect of a binary treatment on a functional outcome with observational data. We define a Functional Average Treatment Effect and develop an outcome regression estimator. We show how to obtain valid inference on the FATE using simultaneous confidence bands, which cover the FATE with a given probability over the entire domain. Simulation experiments illustrate how the simultaneous confidence bands take the multiple comparison…

商品组合选择的半参数离散选择模型AI 解读

We propose two approaches to estimate semiparametric discrete choice models for bundles. Our first approach is a kernel-weighted rank estimator based on a matching-based identification strategy. We establish its complete asymptotic properties and prove the validity of the nonparametric bootstrap for inference. We then introduce a new multi-index least absolute deviations (LAD) estimator as an alternative, of which the main advantage is its capacity to estimate preference…

CausalImages：面向地球观测、生物医学与社会科学图像的因果推断 R 包AI 解读

The causalimages R package enables causal inference with image and image sequence data, providing new tools for integrating novel data sources like satellite and bio-medical imagery into the study of cause and effect. One set of functions enables image-based causal inference analyses. For example, one key function decomposes treatment effect heterogeneity by images using an interpretable Bayesian framework. This allows for determining which types of images or image sequences…

利用工具变量与环境估计存在隐藏混杂的因果效应AI 解读

Recent works have proposed regression models which are invariant across data collection environments. These estimators often have a causal interpretation under conditions on the environments and type of invariance imposed. One recent example, the Causal Dantzig (CD), is consistent under hidden confounding and represents an alternative to classical instrumental variable estimators such as Two Stage Least Squares (TSLS). In this work we derive the CD as a generalized method of…

以反事实方式比较可拒绝预测的分类器AI 解读

Abstaining classifiers have the option to abstain from making predictions on inputs that they are unsure about. These classifiers are becoming increasingly popular in high-stakes decision-making problems, as they can withhold uncertain predictions to improve their reliability and safety. When evaluating black-box abstaining classifier(s), however, we lack a principled approach that accounts for what the classifier would have predicted on its abstentions. These missing…