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利用广义随机森林排序事件时间结果的平均处理效应AI 解读

In this paper we present a data-adaptive estimation procedure for estimation of average treatment effects in a time-to-event setting based on generalized random forests. In these kinds of settings, the definition of causal effect parameters are complicated by competing risks; here we distinguish between treatment effects on the crude and the net probabilities, respectively. To handle right-censoring, and to switch between crude and net probabilities, we propose a two-step…

弱工具变量：传统两阶段最小二乘的局限与替代估计量AI 解读

Instrumental variables estimation has gained considerable traction in recent decades as a tool for causal inference, particularly amongst empirical researchers. This paper makes three contributions. First, we provide a detailed theoretical discussion on the properties of the standard two-stage least squares estimator in the presence of weak instruments and introduce and derive two alternative estimators. Second, we conduct Monte-Carlo simulations to compare the finite-sample…

双边市场实验中的干扰、偏差与方差：平台实验设计指引AI 解读

Two-sided marketplace platforms often run experiments to test the effect of an intervention before launching it platform-wide. A typical approach is to randomize individuals into the treatment group, which receives the intervention, and the control group, which does not. The platform then compares the performance in the two groups to estimate the effect if the intervention were launched to everyone. We focus on two common experiment types, where the platform randomizes…

多中心试验中的中心特定因果推断AI 解读

In multicenter randomized trials, when effect modifiers have a different distribution across centers, comparisons between treatment groups that average over centers may not apply to any of the populations underlying the individual centers. Here, we describe methods for reinterpreting the evidence produced by a multicenter trial in the context of the population underlying each center. We describe how to identify center-specific effects under identifiability conditions that…

CATE 与机器学习：条件平均处理效应的估计教程AI 解读

For treatment effects - one of the core issues in modern econometric analysis - prediction and estimation are two sides of the same coin. As it turns out, machine learning methods are the tool for generalized prediction models. Combined with econometric theory, they allow us to estimate not only the average but a personalized treatment effect - the conditional average treatment effect (CATE). In this tutorial, we give an overview of novel methods, explain them in detail, and…

使用工具变量进行因果推断的演算框架AI 解读

Under a general structural equation framework for causal inference, we provide a definition of the causal effect of a variable X on another variable Y, and propose an approach to estimate this causal effect via the use of instrumental variables.

GEAR：利用辅助数据进行最优个性化决策AI 解读

Personalized optimal decision making, finding the optimal decision rule (ODR) based on individual characteristics, has attracted increasing attention recently in many fields, such as education, economics, and medicine. Current ODR methods usually require the primary outcome of interest in samples for assessing treatment effects, namely the experimental sample. However, in many studies, treatments may have a long-term effect, and as such the primary outcome of interest cannot…

连续处理效应的自动双重机器学习估计AI 解读

In this paper, we introduce and prove asymptotic normality for a new nonparametric estimator of continuous treatment effects. Specifically, we estimate the average dose-response function - the expected value of an outcome of interest at a particular level of the treatment level. We utilize tools from both the double debiased machine learning (DML) and the automatic double machine learning (ADML) literatures to construct our estimator. Our estimator utilizes a novel debiasing…

用潜在结果框架界定实验对照AI 解读

The goal of a well-controlled study is to remove unwanted variation when estimating the causal effect of the intervention of interest. Experiments conducted in the basic sciences frequently achieve this goal using experimental controls, such as "negative" and "positive" controls, which are measurements designed to detect systematic sources of unwanted variation. Here, we introduce clear, mathematically precise definitions of experimental controls using potential outcomes.…

含变量测量误差的最小二乘估计AI 解读

Error-in-variables regression is a common ingredient in treatment effect estimators using panel data. This includes synthetic control estimators, counterfactual time series forecasting estimators, and combinations. We study high-dimensional least squares with correlated error-in-variables with a focus on these uses. We use our results to derive conditions under which the synthetic control estimator is asymptotically unbiased and normal with estimable variance, permitting…

利用时变工具变量估计和改进动态处理规则AI 解读

Estimating dynamic treatment regimes (DTRs) from retrospective observational data is challenging as some degree of unmeasured confounding is often expected. In this work, we develop a framework of estimating properly defined "optimal" DTRs with a time-varying instrumental variable (IV) when unmeasured covariates confound the treatment and outcome, rendering the potential outcome distributions only partially identified. We derive a novel Bellman equation under partial…

去混杂得分：弱重叠下因果效应估计的特征表示AI 解读

A key condition for obtaining reliable estimates of the causal effect of a treatment is overlap (a.k.a. positivity): the distributions of the features used to perform causal adjustment cannot be too different in the treated and control groups. In cases where overlap is poor, causal effect estimators can become brittle, especially when they incorporate weighting. To address this problem, a number of proposals (including confounder selection or dimension reduction methods)…

真实世界数据中替代标志物的评价AI 解读

Shortcomings of randomized clinical trials are pronounced in urgent health crises, when rapid identification of effective treatments is critical. Leveraging short-term surrogates in real-world data (RWD) can guide policymakers evaluating new treatments. In this paper, we develop novel estimators for the proportion of treatment effect (PTE) on the true outcome explained by a surrogate in RWD settings. We propose inverse probability weighted and doubly robust (DR) estimators…

降秩与协整向量自回归的约束参数化AI 解读

The paper provides a parametrization of Vector Autoregression (VAR) that enables one to look at the parameters associated with unit root dynamics and those associated with stable dynamics separately. The task is achieved via a novel factorization of the VAR polynomial that partitions the polynomial spectrum into unit root and stable and zero roots via polynomial factors. The proposed factorization adds to the literature of spectral factorization of matrix polynomials. The…

用因果计量方法重新估计高速公路交通流基本关系AI 解读

The fundamental relationship of traffic flow is empirically estimated by fitting a regression curve to a cloud of observations of traffic variables. Such estimates, however, may suffer from the confounding/endogeneity bias due to omitted variables such as driving behaviour and weather. To this end, this paper adopts a causal approach to obtain an unbiased estimate of the fundamental flow-density relationship using traffic detector data. In particular, we apply a Bayesian…

基于广义多元随机效应模型的客观贝叶斯元分析AI 解读

Objective Bayesian inference procedures are derived for the parameters of the multivariate random effects model generalized to elliptically contoured distributions. The posterior for the overall mean vector and the between-study covariance matrix is deduced by assigning two noninformative priors to the model parameter, namely the Berger and Bernardo reference prior and the Jeffreys prior, whose analytical expressions are obtained under weak distributional assumptions. It is…

原因的效应与效应的原因AI 解读

We describe and contrast two distinct problem areas for statistical causality: studying the likely effects of an intervention ("effects of causes"), and studying whether there is a causal link between the observed exposure and outcome in an individual case ("causes of effects"). For each of these, we introduce and compare various formal frameworks that have been proposed for that purpose, including the decision-theoretic approach, structural equations, structural and…

改进与扩展的贝叶斯合成控制AI 解读

An improved and extended Bayesian synthetic control model is presented, expanding upon the latent factor model in Tuomaala 2019. The changes we make include 1) standardization of the data prior to model fit - which improves efficiency and generalization across different data sets; 2) adding time varying covariates; 3) adding the ability to have multiple treated units; 4) fitting the latent factors within the Bayesian model; and, 5) a sparsity inducing prior to automatically…

评布雷曼《统计建模：两种文化》：因果推断中的建模分歧AI 解读

Motivated by Breiman's rousing 2001 paper on the "two cultures" in statistics, we consider the role that different modeling approaches play in causal inference. We discuss the relationship between model complexity and causal (mis)interpretation, the relative merits of plug-in versus targeted estimation, issues that arise in tuning flexible estimators of causal effects, and some outstanding cultural divisions in causal inference.

用于推断因果结构的贝叶斯最优实验设计AI 解读

Inferring the causal structure of a system typically requires interventional data, rather than just observational data. Since interventional experiments can be costly, it is preferable to select interventions that yield the maximum amount of information about a system. We propose a novel Bayesian method for optimal experimental design by sequentially selecting interventions that minimize the expected posterior entropy as rapidly as possible. A key feature is that the method…

观察性研究中处理效应异质性的非参数检验AI 解读

We consider the problem of testing for treatment effect heterogeneity in observational studies, and propose a nonparametric test based on multisample U-statistics. To account for potential confounders, we use reweighted data where the weights are determined by estimated propensity scores. The proposed method does not require any parametric assumptions on the outcomes and bypasses the need for modeling the treatment effect for each study subgroup. We establish the asymptotic…

是个体构成还是所在环境？分解跨站点处理效应差异AI 解读

Multisite trials, in which treatment is randomized separately in multiple sites, offer a unique opportunity to disentangle treatment effect variation due to "compositional" differences in the distributions of unit-level features from variation due to "contextual" differences in site-level features. In particular, if we can re-weight (or "transport") each site to have a common distribution of unit-level covariates, the remaining effect variation captures contextual…

利用历史数据进行高维回归调整：复合协变量方法AI 解读

The amount of data collected from patients involved in clinical trials is continuously growing. All patient characteristics are potential covariates that could be used to improve clinical trial analysis and power. However, the restricted number of patients in phases I and II studies limits the possible number of covariates included in the analyses. In this paper, we investigate the cost/benefit ratio of including covariates in the analysis of clinical trials. Within this…

机器学习与金融研究的对话：挑战及应用AI 解读

This study aims to examine the challenges and applications of machine learning for financial research. Machine learning algorithms have been developed for certain data environments which substantially differ from the one we encounter in finance. Not only do difficulties arise due to some of the idiosyncrasies of financial markets, there is a fundamental tension between the underlying paradigm of machine learning and the research philosophy in financial economics. Given the…