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通过协变量调整估计总效应的稳健性检验AI 解读

Suppose we want to estimate a total effect with covariate adjustment in a linear structural equation model. We have a causal graph to decide what covariates to adjust for, but are uncertain about the graph. Here, we propose a testing procedure, that exploits the fact that there are multiple valid adjustment sets for the target total effect in the causal graph, to perform a robustness check on the graph. If the test rejects, it is a strong indication that we should not rely…

高维去偏机器学习的有限样本保证AI 解读

Debiased machine learning (DML) offers an attractive way to estimate treatment effects in observational settings, where identification of causal parameters requires a conditional independence or unconfoundedness assumption, since it allows to control flexibly for a potentially very large number of covariates. This paper gives novel finite-sample guarantees for joint inference on high-dimensional DML, bounding how far the finite-sample distribution of the estimator is from…

RieszNet 与 ForestRiesz：神经网络和随机森林的自动去偏机器学习AI 解读

Many causal and policy effects of interest are defined by linear functionals of high-dimensional or non-parametric regression functions. $\sqrt{n}$-consistent and asymptotically normal estimation of the object of interest requires debiasing to reduce the effects of regularization and/or model selection on the object of interest. Debiasing is typically achieved by adding a correction term to the plug-in estimator of the functional, which leads to properties such as…

贝叶斯向量自回归中结构限制的新算法AI 解读

A comprehensive methodology for inference in vector autoregressions (VARs) using sign and other structural restrictions is developed. The reduced-form VAR disturbances are driven by a few common factors and structural identification restrictions can be incorporated in their loadings in the form of parametric restrictions. A Gibbs sampler is derived that allows for reduced-form parameters and structural restrictions to be sampled efficiently in one step. A key benefit of the…

无需匹配的 GAN 处理效应估计方法AI 解读

Matching has become the mainstream in counterfactual inference, with which selection bias between sample groups can be significantly eliminated. However in practice, when estimating average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) via matching, no matter which method, the trade-off between estimation accuracy and information loss constantly exist. Attempting to completely replace the matching process, this paper proposes the GAN-ATT estimator that integrates generative…

高频观测下常数漂移分数布朗运动的拟似然分析AI 解读

Consider an estimation of the Hurst parameter $H\in(0,1)$ and the volatility parameter $σ>0$ for a fractional Brownian motion with a drift term under high-frequency observations with a finite time interval. In the present paper, we propose a consistent estimator of the parameter $θ=(H,σ)$ combining the ideas of a quasi-likelihood function based on a local Gaussian approximation of a high-frequently observed time series and its frequency-domain approximation. Moreover, we…

利用最小描述长度发现 Hawkes 过程中的因果网络AI 解读

Hawkes processes are a special class of temporal point processes which exhibit a natural notion of causality, as occurrence of events in the past may increase the probability of events in the future. Discovery of the underlying influence network among the dimensions of multi-dimensional temporal processes is of high importance in disciplines where a high-frequency data is to model, e.g. in financial data or in seismological data. This paper approaches the problem of learning…

结合多个实验与多个结局高效估计异质性处理效应AI 解读

Learning heterogeneous treatment effects (HTEs) is an important problem across many fields. Most existing methods consider the setting with a single treatment arm and a single outcome metric. However, in many real world domains, experiments are run consistently - for example, in internet companies, A/B tests are run every day to measure the impacts of potential changes across many different metrics of interest. We show that even if an analyst cares only about the HTEs in one…

离线强化学习中的投影状态—动作平衡权重AI 解读

Offline policy evaluation (OPE) is considered a fundamental and challenging problem in reinforcement learning (RL). This paper focuses on the value estimation of a target policy based on pre-collected data generated from a possibly different policy, under the framework of infinite-horizon Markov decision processes. Motivated by the recently developed marginal importance sampling method in RL and the covariate balancing idea in causal inference, we propose a novel estimator…

实验中的马尔可夫式干扰AI 解读

We consider experiments in dynamical systems where interventions on some experimental units impact other units through a limiting constraint (such as a limited inventory). Despite outsize practical importance, the best estimators for this `Markovian' interference problem are largely heuristic in nature, and their bias is not well understood. We formalize the problem of inference in such experiments as one of policy evaluation. Off-policy estimators, while unbiased,…

重尾噪声下的稳健矩阵补全AI 解读

This paper studies low-rank matrix completion in the presence of heavy-tailed and possibly asymmetric noise, where we aim to estimate an underlying low-rank matrix given a set of highly incomplete noisy entries. Though the matrix completion problem has attracted much attention in the past decade, there is still lack of theoretical understanding when the observations are contaminated by heavy-tailed noises. Prior theory falls short of explaining the empirical results and is…

利用高斯过程代理模型估计最优动态治疗策略AI 解读

In precision medicine, identifying optimal sequences of decision rules, termed dynamic treatment regimes (DTRs), is an important undertaking. One approach investigators may take to infer about optimal DTRs is via Bayesian dynamic Marginal Structural Models (MSMs). These models represent the expected outcome under adherence to a DTR for DTRs in a family indexed by a parameter $ ψ$; the function mapping regimes in the family to the expected outcome under adherence to a DTR is…

利用变分高斯过程推断非线性动力系统的简约耦合统计量AI 解读

Falsification is the basis for testing existing hypotheses, and a great danger is posed when results incorrectly reject our prior notions (false positives). Though nonparametric and nonlinear exploratory methods of uncovering coupling provide a flexible framework to study network configurations and discover causal graphs, multiple comparisons analyses make false positives more likely, exacerbating the need for their control. We aim to robustify the Gaussian Processes…

结合宏观与微观数据的异质性主体模型全信息估计AI 解读

We develop a generally applicable full-information inference method for heterogeneous agent models, combining aggregate time series data and repeated cross sections of micro data. To handle unobserved aggregate state variables that affect cross-sectional distributions, we compute a numerically unbiased estimate of the model-implied likelihood function. Employing the likelihood estimate in a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm, we obtain fully efficient and valid Bayesian…

异质性疾病病因中的无其他亚型平均因果效应AI 解读

Studies have shown that the effect an exposure may have on a disease can vary for different subtypes of the same disease. However, existing approaches to estimate and compare these effects largely overlook causality. In this paper, we study the effect smoking may have on having colorectal cancer subtypes defined by a trait known as microsatellite instability (MSI). We use principal stratification to propose an alternative causal estimand, the Subtype-Free Average Causal…

迪拜原油与美国天然气市场的协整关系及 ARDL 设定AI 解读

This paper examines the relationship between the price of the Dubai crude oil and the price of the US natural gas using an updated monthly dataset from 1992 to 2018, incorporating the latter events in the energy markets. After employing a variety of unit root and cointegration tests, the long-run relationship is examined via the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration technique, along with the Toda-Yamamoto (1995) causality test. Our results indicate that there…

Shift-Share 设计的随机化推断检验AI 解读

We consider the problem of inference in shift-share research designs. The choice between existing approaches that allow for unrestricted spatial correlation involves tradeoffs, varying in terms of their validity when there are relatively few or concentrated shocks, and in terms of the assumptions on the shock assignment process and treatment effects heterogeneity. We propose alternative randomization inference methods that combine the advantages of different approaches.…

因果发现中的贝叶斯样本量确定AI 解读

Graphical models based on Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) are widely used to answer causal questions across a variety of scientific and social disciplines. However, observational data alone cannot distinguish in general between DAGs representing the same conditional independence assertions (Markov equivalent DAGs); as a consequence the orientation of some edges in the graph remains indeterminate. Interventional data, produced by exogenous manipulations of variables in the…

替代后代机制下带移民的修正 Galton–Watson 过程AI 解读

We propose a novel class of count time series models alternative to the classic Galton-Watson process with immigration (GWI) and Bernoulli offspring. A new offspring mechanism is developed and its properties are explored. This novel mechanism, called geometric thinning operator, is used to define a class of modified GWI (MGWI) processes, which induces a certain non-linearity to the models. We show that this non-linearity can produce better results in terms of prediction when…

时变多元因果过程AI 解读

In this paper, we consider a wide class of time-varying multivariate causal processes which nests many classic and new examples as special cases. We first prove the existence of a weakly dependent stationary approximation for our model which is the foundation to initiate the theoretical development. Afterwards, we consider the QMLE estimation approach, and provide both point-wise and simultaneous inferences on the coefficient functions. In addition, we demonstrate the…

反事实的敏感性与稳健性AI 解读

We propose a framework for analyzing the sensitivity of counterfactuals to parametric assumptions about the distribution of latent variables in structural models. In particular, we derive bounds on counterfactuals as the distribution of latent variables spans nonparametric neighborhoods of a given parametric specification while other "structural" features of the model are maintained. Our approach recasts the infinite-dimensional problem of optimizing the counterfactual with…

刻画高频金融数据典型事实的波动率模型AI 解读

This paper introduces novel volatility diffusion models to account for the stylized facts of high-frequency financial data such as volatility clustering, intra-day U-shape, and leverage effect. For example, the daily integrated volatility of the proposed volatility process has a realized GARCH structure with an asymmetric effect on log-returns. To further explain the heavy-tailedness of the financial data, we assume that the log-returns have a finite $2b$-th moment for $b \in (1,2]$…

因果推断的拓扑视角AI 解读

This paper presents a topological learning-theoretic perspective on causal inference by introducing a series of topologies defined on general spaces of structural causal models (SCMs). As an illustration of the framework we prove a topological causal hierarchy theorem, showing that substantive assumption-free causal inference is possible only in a meager set of SCMs. Thanks to a known correspondence between open sets in the weak topology and statistically verifiable…

归一化潜在测度因子模型AI 解读

We propose a methodology for modeling and comparing probability distributions within a Bayesian nonparametric framework. Building on dependent normalized random measures, we consider a prior distribution for a collection of discrete random measures where each measure is a linear combination of a set of latent measures, interpretable as characteristic traits shared by different distributions, with positive random weights. The model is non-identified and a method for…