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工具变量分位数回归AI 解读

This chapter reviews the instrumental variable quantile regression model of Chernozhukov and Hansen (2005). We discuss the key conditions used for identification of structural quantile effects within this model which include the availability of instruments and a restriction on the ranks of structural disturbances. We outline several approaches to obtaining point estimates and performing statistical inference for model parameters. Finally, we point to possible directions for…

利用面板数据界定分布处理效应：岗位流失应用AI 解读

This paper develops new techniques to bound distributional treatment effect parameters that depend on the joint distribution of potential outcomes -- an object not identified by standard identifying assumptions such as selection on observables or even when treatment is randomly assigned. I show that panel data and an additional assumption on the dependence between untreated potential outcomes for the treated group over time (i) provide more identifying power for…

条件平均处理效应及其他因果函数的去偏机器学习AI 解读

This paper provides estimation and inference methods for the best linear predictor (approximation) of a structural function, such as conditional average structural and treatment effects, and structural derivatives, based on modern machine learning (ML) tools. We represent this structural function as a conditional expectation of an unbiased signal that depends on a nuisance parameter, which we estimate by modern machine learning techniques. We first adjust the signal to make…

异质性处理效应的准预言机估计AI 解读

Flexible estimation of heterogeneous treatment effects lies at the heart of many statistical challenges, such as personalized medicine and optimal resource allocation. In this paper, we develop a general class of two-step algorithms for heterogeneous treatment effect estimation in observational studies. We first estimate marginal effects and treatment propensities in order to form an objective function that isolates the causal component of the signal. Then, we optimize this…

局部稳健的半参数估计AI 解读

Many economic and causal parameters depend on nonparametric or high dimensional first steps. We give a general construction of locally robust/orthogonal moment functions for GMM, where moment conditions have zero derivative with respect to first steps. We show that orthogonal moment functions can be constructed by adding to identifying moments the nonparametric influence function for the effect of the first step on identifying moments. Orthogonal moments reduce model…

利用 Wasserstein 生成对抗网络设计蒙特卡洛模拟AI 解读

When researchers develop new econometric methods it is common practice to compare the performance of the new methods to those of existing methods in Monte Carlo studies. The credibility of such Monte Carlo studies is often limited because of the freedom the researcher has in choosing the design. In recent years a new class of generative models emerged in the machine learning literature, termed Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) that can be used to systematically generate…

断点回归设计AI 解读

This handbook chapter gives an introduction to the sharp regression discontinuity design, covering identification, estimation, inference, and falsification methods.

属性缺失下的双重稳健处理效应估计AI 解读

Missing attributes are ubiquitous in causal inference, as they are in most applied statistical work. In this paper, we consider various sets of assumptions under which causal inference is possible despite missing attributes and discuss corresponding approaches to average treatment effect estimation, including generalized propensity score methods and multiple imputation. Across an extensive simulation study, we show that no single method systematically out-performs others. We…

双重稳健的双重差分估计量AI 解读

This article proposes doubly robust estimators for the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) in difference-in-differences (DID) research designs. In contrast to alternative DID estimators, the proposed estimators are consistent if either (but not necessarily both) a propensity score or outcome regression working models are correctly specified. We also derive the semiparametric efficiency bound for the ATT in DID designs when either panel or repeated cross-section…

学习何时启动处理的政策规则AI 解读

Many applied decision-making problems have a dynamic component: The policymaker needs not only to choose whom to treat, but also when to start which treatment. For example, a medical doctor may choose between postponing treatment (watchful waiting) and prescribing one of several available treatments during the many visits from a patient. We develop an "advantage doubly robust" estimator for learning such dynamic treatment rules using observational data under the assumption…

多阈值或多评分变量断点回归设计的分析AI 解读

We introduce the \texttt{Stata} (and \texttt{R}) package \texttt{rdmulti}, which includes three commands (\texttt{rdmc}, \texttt{rdmcplot}, \texttt{rdms}) for analyzing Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs with multiple cutoffs or multiple scores. The command \texttt{rdmc} applies to non-cumulative and cumulative multi-cutoff RD settings. It calculates pooled and cutoff-specific RD treatment effects, and provides robust bias-corrected inference procedures. Post estimation…

通过倾向得分实现协变量分布平衡AI 解读

This paper proposes new estimators for the propensity score that aim to maximize the covariate distribution balance among different treatment groups. Heuristically, our proposed procedure attempts to estimate a propensity score model by making the underlying covariate distribution of different treatment groups as close to each other as possible. Our estimators are data-driven, do not rely on tuning parameters such as bandwidths, admit an asymptotic linear representation, and…

多阈值断点回归设计中的处理效应外推AI 解读

In non-experimental settings, the Regression Discontinuity (RD) design is one of the most credible identification strategies for program evaluation and causal inference. However, RD treatment effect estimands are necessarily local, making statistical methods for the extrapolation of these effects a key area for development. We introduce a new method for extrapolation of RD effects that relies on the presence of multiple cutoffs, and is therefore design-based. Our approach…

持续时间结果下处理效应异质性的非参数检验AI 解读

This article proposes different tests for treatment effect heterogeneity when the outcome of interest, typically a duration variable, may be right-censored. The proposed tests study whether a policy 1) has zero distributional (average) effect for all subpopulations defined by covariate values, and 2) has homogeneous average effect across different subpopulations. The proposed tests are based on two-step Kaplan-Meier integrals and do not rely on parametric distributional…

断点回归中稳健偏差修正推断的最优带宽选择AI 解读

Modern empirical work in Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs often employs local polynomial estimation and inference with a mean square error (MSE) optimal bandwidth choice. This bandwidth yields an MSE-optimal RD treatment effect estimator, but is by construction invalid for inference. Robust bias corrected (RBC) inference methods are valid when using the MSE-optimal bandwidth, but we show they yield suboptimal confidence intervals in terms of coverage error. We establish…

控制变量、离散工具变量与结构函数识别AI 解读

Control variables provide an important means of controlling for endogeneity in econometric models with nonseparable and/or multidimensional heterogeneity. We allow for discrete instruments, giving identification results under a variety of restrictions on the way the endogenous variable and the control variables affect the outcome. We consider many structural objects of interest, such as average or quantile treatment effects. We illustrate our results with an empirical…

断点回归设计实用导论：基础AI 解读

In this Element and its accompanying Element, Matias D. Cattaneo, Nicolas Idrobo, and Rocio Titiunik provide an accessible and practical guide for the analysis and interpretation of Regression Discontinuity (RD) designs that encourages the use of a common set of practices and facilitates the accumulation of RD-based empirical evidence. In this Element, the authors discuss the foundations of the canonical Sharp RD design, which has the following features: (i) the score is…

分位数图模型：预测、条件独立与系统性风险应用AI 解读

We propose two types of Quantile Graphical Models (QGMs) --- Conditional Independence Quantile Graphical Models (CIQGMs) and Prediction Quantile Graphical Models (PQGMs). CIQGMs characterize the conditional independence of distributions by evaluating the distributional dependence structure at each quantile index. As such, CIQGMs can be used for validation of the graph structure in the causal graphical models (\cite{pearl2009causality, robins1986new, heckman2015causal}). One…

含多个内生变量的高维线性模型同时置信区间AI 解读

High-dimensional linear models with endogenous variables play an increasingly important role in recent econometric literature. In this work we allow for models with many endogenous variables and many instrument variables to achieve identification. Because of the high-dimensionality in the second stage, constructing honest confidence regions with asymptotically correct coverage is non-trivial. Our main contribution is to propose estimators and confidence regions that would…

连续行动下的半参数有效策略学习AI 解读

We consider off-policy evaluation and optimization with continuous action spaces. We focus on observational data where the data collection policy is unknown and needs to be estimated. We take a semi-parametric approach where the value function takes a known parametric form in the treatment, but we are agnostic on how it depends on the observed contexts. We propose a doubly robust off-policy estimate for this setting and show that off-policy optimization based on this…

回归分析中的抽样不确定性与设计不确定性AI 解读

Consider a researcher estimating the parameters of a regression function based on data for all 50 states in the United States or on data for all visits to a website. What is the interpretation of the estimated parameters and the standard errors? In practice, researchers typically assume that the sample is randomly drawn from a large population of interest and report standard errors that are designed to capture sampling variation. This is common even in applications where it…

简便的局部多项式密度估计量AI 解读

This paper introduces an intuitive and easy-to-implement nonparametric density estimator based on local polynomial techniques. The estimator is fully boundary adaptive and automatic, but does not require pre-binning or any other transformation of the data. We study the main asymptotic properties of the estimator, and use these results to provide principled estimation, inference, and bandwidth selection methods. As a substantive application of our results, we develop a novel…

平均处理效应的稀疏性双重稳健推断AI 解读

Many popular methods for building confidence intervals on causal effects under high-dimensional confounding require strong "ultra-sparsity" assumptions that may be difficult to validate in practice. To alleviate this difficulty, we here study a new method for average treatment effect estimation that yields asymptotically exact confidence intervals assuming that either the conditional response surface or the conditional probability of treatment allows for an ultra-sparse…

面板数据因果效应的集成估计方法AI 解读

This paper studies a panel data setting where the goal is to estimate causal effects of an intervention by predicting the counterfactual values of outcomes for treated units, had they not received the treatment. Several approaches have been proposed for this problem, including regression methods, synthetic control methods and matrix completion methods. This paper considers an ensemble approach, and shows that it performs better than any of the individual methods in several…