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用于端到端政策学习的因果政策森林AI 解读

This study proposes an end-to-end algorithm for policy learning in causal inference. We observe data consisting of covariates, treatment assignments, and outcomes, where only the outcome corresponding to the assigned treatment is observed. The goal of policy learning is to train a policy from the observed data, where a policy is a function that recommends an optimal treatment for each individual, to maximize the policy value. In this study, we first show that maximizing the…

网络混杂下用于因果推断的图神经网络AI 解读

This paper studies causal inference with observational data from a single large network. We consider a nonparametric model with interference in both potential outcomes and selection into treatment. Specifically, both stages may be the outcomes of simultaneous equations models, allowing for endogenous peer effects. This results in high-dimensional network confounding where the network and covariates of all units constitute sources of selection bias. In contrast, the existing…

利用代理变量迁移因果效应AI 解读

We consider the problem of estimating a causal effect in a multi-domain setting. The causal effect of interest is confounded by an unobserved confounder and can change between the different domains. We assume that we have access to a proxy of the hidden confounder and that all variables are discrete or categorical. We propose methodology to estimate the causal effect in the target domain, where we assume to observe only the proxy variable. Under these conditions, we prove…

利用短面板数据估计反事实矩阵均值AI 解读

We develop a spectral approach for identifying and estimating average counterfactual outcomes under a low-rank factor model with short panel data and general outcome missingness patterns. Applications include event studies and studies of outcomes of "matches" between agents of two types, e.g. people and places, typically conducted using less-flexible Two-Way Fixed Effects (TWFE) models of outcomes. Given finite observed outcomes per unit, we show our approach identifies all…

缺失数据的稳健性：崩溃点分析AI 解读

Missing data is pervasive in econometric applications, and rarely is it plausible that the data are missing (completely) at random. This paper proposes a methodology for studying the robustness of results drawn from incomplete datasets. Selection is measured as the divergence from the distribution of complete observations to the distribution of incomplete observations. The breakdown point is defined as the minimal amount of selection needed to overturn a given result.…

利用代理变量高效估计存在未测混杂的平均处理效应AI 解读

Proximal causal inference provides a framework for estimating the average treatment effect (ATE) in the presence of unmeasured confounding by leveraging outcome and treatment proxies. Identification in this framework relies on the existence of a so-called bridge function. Standard approaches typically postulate a parametric specification for the bridge function, which is estimated in a first step and then plugged into an ATE estimator. However, this sequential procedure…

二元结局回归不连续设计的最优估计AI 解读

We develop a finite-sample optimal estimator for regression discontinuity design when the outcomes are bounded, including binary outcomes as the leading case. Our estimator achieves minimax mean squared error among linear shrinkage estimators with nonnegative weights when the regression function lies in a Lipschitz class. Although the original minimax problem involves an iterative noncovex optimization problem, we show that our estimator is obtained by solving a convex…

通过摊销条件独立检验实现可扩展因果结构学习AI 解读

Controlling false positives (Type I errors) through statistical hypothesis testing is a foundation of modern scientific data analysis. Existing causal structure discovery algorithms either do not provide Type I error control or cannot scale to the size of modern scientific datasets. We consider a variant of the causal discovery problem with two sets of nodes, where the only edges of interest form a bipartite causal subgraph between the sets. We develop Scalable Causal…

相关溢出下的处理效应：连接离散与连续方法AI 解读

This paper develops a continuous functional framework for treatment effects propagating through geographic space and economic networks. We derive a master equation from three independent economic foundations -- heterogeneous agent aggregation, market equilibrium, and cost minimization -- establishing that the framework rests on fundamental principles rather than ad hoc specifications. The framework nests conventional econometric models -- autoregressive specifications,…

主分层可忽略性下基于 U 统计量的主分层推断AI 解读

Principal stratification is a popular framework for causal inference in the presence of an intermediate outcome. While the principal average treatment effects are the standard target of inference, they may be insufficient when interest lies in the relative ordering of potential outcomes within a principal stratum. We introduce the principal generalized causal effect estimands to accommodate nonlinear contrast functions, providing robust, probability-scale summaries suitable…

一致性假设的敏感性分析AI 解读

Sensitivity analysis informs causal inference by assessing the sensitivity of conclusions to departures from assumptions. The consistency assumption states that there are no hidden versions of treatment and that the outcome arising naturally equals the outcome arising from intervention. When reasoning about the possibility of consistency violations, it can be helpful to distinguish between covariates and versions of treatment. In the context of surgery, for example, genomic…

汇总因果图中微观因果效应的有效协变量调整AI 解读

Observational studies in fields such as epidemiology often rely on covariate adjustment to estimate causal effects. Classical graphical criteria, like the back-door criterion and the generalized adjustment criterion, are powerful tools for identifying valid adjustment sets in directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). However, these criteria are not directly applicable to summary causal graphs (SCGs), which are abstractions of DAGs commonly used in dynamic systems. In SCGs, each node…

处理误分类与预期行为下的交错实施双重差分设计AI 解读

This paper examines the identification and estimation of treatment effects in staggered adoption designs -- a common extension of the canonical Difference-in-Differences (DiD) model to multiple groups and time-periods -- in the presence of (time varying) misclassification of the treatment status as well as of anticipation. We demonstrate that standard estimators are biased with respect to commonly used causal parameters of interest under such forms of misspecification. To…

协变量自适应随机化下 p=o(n) 的弱模型假设协变量调整AI 解读

Adjusting for (baseline) covariates with working regression models becomes standard practice in the analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCT). When the dimension $p$ of the covariates is large relative to the sample size $n$, specifically $p = o (n)$, adjusting for covariates even in a linear working model by ordinary least squares can yield overly large bias, defeating the purpose of improving efficiency. This issue arises when no structural assumptions are imposed on…

网络干扰结构误设下的因果推断AI 解读

Under interference, the treatment of one unit may affect the outcomes of other units. Such interference patterns between units are typically represented by a network. Correctly specifying this network requires identifying which units can affect others -- an inherently challenging task. Nevertheless, most existing approaches assume that a known and accurate network specification is given. In this paper, we study the consequences of such misspecification. We derive bounds on…

平行趋势假设下复杂处理设计的处理效应估计AI 解读

This paper considers the identification of dynamic treatment effects with panel data, in complex designs where the treatment may not be binary and may not be absorbing. We first show that under no-anticipation and parallel-trends assumptions, we can identify event-study effects comparing outcomes under the actual treatment path and under the status-quo path where all units would have kept their period-one treatment throughout the panel. Those effects can be helpful to…

NA-DiD：双重差分的非可加扩展AI 解读

This paper introduces the Non-Additive Difference-in-Differences (NA-DiD) framework, which extends classical DiD by incorporating non-additive measures the Choquet integral for effect aggregation. It serves as a novel econometric tool for impact evaluation, particularly in settings with non-additive treatment effects. First, we introduce the integral representation of the classial DiD model, and then extend it to non-additive measures, therefore deriving the formulae for…

一般处理类型的析因匹配观察性研究：设计、分析与应用AI 解读

Matching is one of the most widely used causal inference frameworks in observational studies. However, all the existing matching-based causal inference methods are designed for either a single treatment with general treatment types (e.g., binary, ordinal, or continuous) or factorial (multiple) treatments with binary treatments only. To our knowledge, no existing matching-based causal methods can handle factorial treatments with general treatment types. This critical gap…

比较配对事件时间的效应度量AI 解读

The progression-free survival ratio (PFSr) is a widely used measure in personalized oncology trials. It evaluates the effectiveness of treatment by comparing two consecutive event times - one under standard therapy and one under an experimental treatment. However, most proposed tests based on the PFSr cannot control the nominal type I error rate, even under mild assumptions such as random right-censoring. Consequently the results of these tests are often unreliable. As a…

因果中介效应的界AI 解读

Several frameworks have been proposed for studying causal mediation analysis. What these frameworks have in common is that they all make assumptions for point identifications that can be violated even when treatment is randomized. When a causal effect is not point-identified, one can sometimes derive bounds, i.e. a range of possible values that are consistent with the observed data. In this work, we study causal bounds for mediation effects under both the natural effects…

高维数据因果效应估计中的数据自适应协变量平衡AI 解读

A key challenge in estimating causal effects from observational data is handling confounding and is commonly achieved through weighting methods that balance distribution of covariates between treatment and control groups. Weighting approaches can be classified by whether weights are estimated using parametric or nonparametric methods, and by whether the model relies on modeling and inverting the propensity score or directly estimates weights to achieve distributional balance…

从加权视角理解空间回归：超级基金场地修复的观察性研究AI 解读

A key challenge in environmental health research is unmeasured spatial confounding, driven by unobserved spatially structured variables that influence both treatment and outcome. A common approach is to fit a spatial regression that models the outcome as a linear function of treatment and covariates, with a spatially structured error term to account for unmeasured spatial confounding. However, it remains unclear to what extent spatial regression actually accounts for such…

部分识别下的稳健贝叶斯处理选择AI 解读

We study a class of binary treatment choice problems with partial identification through the lens of robust (multiple prior) Bayesian analysis. We use a convenient set of prior distributions to derive ex-ante and ex-post robust Bayes decision rules, both for decision makers who can randomize and for decision makers who cannot. Our main messages are as follows: First, ex-ante and ex-post robust Bayes decision rules do not agree in general, whether or not randomized rules are…

合成工具变量方法：利用共面工具变量的双重趋势条件AI 解读

Traditional instrumental variable (IV) methods often struggle with weak or invalid instruments and rely heavily on external data. We introduce a Synthetic Instrumental Variable (SIV) approach that constructs valid instruments using only existing data. Our method leverages a data-driven dual tendency (DT) condition to identify valid instruments without requiring external variables. SIV is robust to heteroscedasticity and can determine the true sign of the correlation between…