每日简报

用于插补与个体化推断的凸化匹配方法AI 解读

We introduce a new convexified matching method for missing value imputation and individualized inference inspired by computational optimal transport. Our method integrates favorable features from mainstream imputation approaches: optimal matching, regression imputation, and synthetic control. We impute counterfactual outcomes based on convex combinations of observed outcomes, defined based on an optimal coupling between the treated and control data sets. The optimal coupling…

因果路径与子群差异分析的实用指南AI 解读

In this study, we introduce the application of causal disparity analysis to unveil intricate relationships and causal pathways between sensitive attributes and the targeted outcomes within real-world observational data. Our methodology involves employing causal decomposition analysis to quantify and examine the causal interplay between sensitive attributes and outcomes. We also emphasize the significance of integrating heterogeneity assessment in causal disparity analysis to…

用归一化流实现后非线性模型的因果发现AI 解读

Post-nonlinear (PNL) causal models stand out as a versatile and adaptable framework for modeling intricate causal relationships. However, accurately capturing the invertibility constraint required in PNL models remains challenging in existing studies. To address this problem, we introduce CAF-PoNo (Causal discovery via Normalizing Flows for Post-Nonlinear models), harnessing the power of the normalizing flows architecture to enforce the crucial invertibility constraint in…

何时能够对弱潜在因子开展统计推断？AI 解读

This article establishes a new and comprehensive estimation and inference theory for principal component analysis (PCA) under the weak factor model that allow for cross-sectional dependent idiosyncratic components under the nearly minimal factor strength relative to the noise level or signal-to-noise ratio. Our theory is applicable regardless of the relative growth rate between the cross-sectional dimension $N$ and temporal dimension $T$. This more realistic assumption and…

结合 Huber M 估计的矩方法随机效应元分析AI 解读

Meta-analyses are commonly used to provide solid evidence across numerous studies. Traditional moment methods, such as the DerSimonian-Laird method, remain popular in spite of the availability of more accurate alternatives. While moment estimators are simple and intuitive, they are known to underestimate the variance of the overall treatment effect, particularly when the number of studies is small. This underestimation can lead to excessively narrow confidence intervals that…

配对整群随机实验中基于设计的处理效应估计框架AI 解读

Paired cluster-randomized experiments (pCRTs) are common in education program impact evaluation trials. Although common, there is surprisingly no clear consensus regarding how to analyze this randomization design to estimate average treatment effects. Variance estimation is also complicated due to the dependency created through pairing clusters. Therefore, we aim to provide an intuitive and practical comparison between different estimation strategies for pCRTs to inform…

使用新型集成方法稳健估计条件平均处理效应AI 解读

The estimation of Conditional Average Treatment Effects (CATE) is crucial for understanding the heterogeneity of treatment effects in clinical trials. We evaluate the performance of common methods, including causal forests and various meta-learners, across a diverse set of scenarios, revealing that each of the methods struggles in one or more of the tested scenarios. Given the inherent uncertainty of the data-generating process in real-life scenarios, the robustness of a…

自然中介效应与随机干预类比量差异的检测与理解AI 解读

In causal mediation analysis, the natural direct and indirect effects (natural effects) are nonparametrically unidentifiable in the presence of treatment-induced confounding, which motivated the development of randomized interventional analogues (RIAs) of the natural effects. Being easier to identify, the RIAs are becoming widely used in practice. However, applied researchers often interpret RIA estimates as if they were the natural effects, even though the RIAs can be poor…

连续治疗因果效应的共形预测AI 解读

Uncertainty quantification of causal effects is crucial for safety-critical applications such as personalized medicine. A powerful approach for this is conformal prediction, which has several practical benefits due to model-agnostic finite-sample guarantees. Yet, existing methods for conformal prediction of causal effects are limited to binary/discrete treatments and make highly restrictive assumptions such as known propensity scores. In this work, we provide a novel…

含未观测混杂因素的贝叶斯结构化中介分析AI 解读

We explore methods to reduce the impact of unobserved confounders on the causal mediation analysis of high-dimensional mediators with spatially smooth structures, such as brain imaging data. The key approach is to incorporate the latent individual effects, which influence the structured mediators, as unobserved confounders in the outcome model, thereby potentially debiasing the mediation effects. We develop BAyesian Structured Mediation analysis with Unobserved confounders…

经济政策与地缘政治不确定性下的 CPI 通胀预测AI 解读

Forecasting consumer price index (CPI) inflation is of paramount importance for both academics and policymakers at the central banks. This study introduces a filtered ensemble wavelet neural network (FEWNet) to forecast CPI inflation, which is tested on BRIC countries. FEWNet breaks down inflation data into high and low-frequency components using wavelets and utilizes them along with other economic factors (economic policy uncertainty and geopolitical risk) to produce…

固定效应动态离散选择模型中平均边际效应的识别AI 解读

In nonlinear panel data models, fixed effects methods are often criticized because they cannot identify average marginal effects (AMEs) in short panels. The common argument is that identifying AMEs requires knowledge of the distribution of unobserved heterogeneity, but this distribution is not identified in a fixed effects model with a short panel. In this paper, we derive identification results that contradict this argument. In a panel data dynamic logit model, and for $T$ a…

最大熵谱分析及其在引力波数据分析中的应用AI 解读

The Maximum Entropy Spectral Analysis (MESA) method, developed by Burg, offers a powerful tool for spectral estimation of a time-series. It relies on Jaynes' maximum entropy principle, allowing the spectrum of a stochastic process to be inferred using the coefficients of an autoregressive process AR($p$) of order $p$. A closed-form recursive solution provides estimates for both the autoregressive coefficients and the order $p$ of the process. We provide a ready-to-use…

CausalMetaR：用于具有因果解释的荟萃分析的 R 包AI 解读

Researchers would often like to leverage data from a collection of sources (e.g., primary studies in a meta-analysis) to estimate causal effects in a target population of interest. However, traditional meta-analytic methods do not produce causally interpretable estimates for a well-defined target population. In this paper, we present the CausalMetaR R package, which implements efficient and robust methods to estimate causal effects in a given internal or external target…

缺失面板数据的逐元素推断：一种简单且实例最优的方法AI 解读

Longitudinal or panel data can be represented as a matrix with rows indexed by units and columns indexed by time. We consider inferential questions associated with the missing data version of panel data induced by staggered adoption. We propose a computationally efficient procedure for estimation, involving only simple matrix algebra and singular value decomposition, and prove non-asymptotic and high-probability bounds on its error in estimating each missing entry. By…

使用目标试验框架识别并减少多队列研究中的偏差AI 解读

Longitudinal cohort studies, which follow a group of individuals over time, provide the opportunity to examine causal effects of complex exposures on long-term health outcomes. Utilizing data from multiple cohorts has the potential to add further benefit by improving precision of estimates through data pooling and by allowing examination of effect heterogeneity through replication of analyses across cohorts. However, the interpretation of findings can be complicated by…

核岭 Riesz 表示元：泛化、误设与反事实有效维度AI 解读

Kernel balancing weights provide confidence intervals for average treatment effects, based on the idea of balancing covariates for the treated group and untreated group in feature space, often with ridge regularization. Previous works on the classical kernel ridge balancing weights have certain limitations: (i) not articulating generalization error for the balancing weights, (ii) typically requiring correct specification of features, and (iii) justifying Gaussian…

VARX 格兰杰分析：建模、推断与应用AI 解读

Complex systems, such as brains, markets, and societies, exhibit internal dynamics influenced by external factors. Disentangling delayed external effects from internal dynamics within these systems is often challenging. We propose using a Vector Autoregressive model with eXogenous input (VARX) to capture delayed interactions between internal and external variables. While this model aligns with Granger's statistical formalism for testing "causal relations", the connection…

大型偏斜 t Copula 模型与日内股票收益的非对称依赖AI 解读

Skew-t copula models are attractive for the modeling of financial data because they allow for asymmetric and extreme tail dependence. We show that the copula implicit in the skew-t distribution of Azzalini and Capitanio (2003) allows for a higher level of pairwise asymmetric dependence than two popular alternative skew-t copulas. Estimation of this copula in high dimensions is challenging, and we propose a fast and accurate Bayesian variational inference (VI) approach to do…

具有大量弱工具变量的二元响应模型AI 解读

This paper considers an endogenous binary response model with many weak instruments. We employ a control function approach and a regularization scheme to obtain better estimation results for the endogenous binary response model in the presence of many weak instruments. Two consistent and asymptotically normally distributed estimators are provided, each of which is called a regularized conditional maximum likelihood estimator (RCMLE) and a regularized nonlinear least squares…

倾向得分参数限制带来的半参数效率增益AI 解读

We explore how much knowing a parametric restriction on propensity scores improves semiparametric efficiency bounds in the potential outcome framework. For stratified propensity scores, considered as a parametric model, we derive explicit formulas for the efficiency gain from knowing how the covariate space is split. Based on these, we find that the efficiency gain decreases as the partition of the stratification becomes finer. For general parametric models, where it is hard…

分类变量缺失数据中的完整联合分布识别AI 解读

Missing data may be disastrous for the identifiability of causal and statistical estimands. In graphical missing data models, colluders are dependence structures that have a special importance for identification considerations. It has been shown that the presence of a colluder makes the full law, i.e., the joint distribution of variables and response indicators, non-parametrically non-identifiable. However, when the variables related to the colluder structure are…

使用 polle 软件包进行策略学习AI 解读

The R package polle is a unifying framework for learning and evaluating finite stage policies based on observational data. The package implements a collection of existing and novel methods for causal policy learning including doubly robust restricted Q-learning, policy tree learning, and outcome weighted learning. The package deals with (near) positivity violations by only considering realistic policies. Highly flexible machine learning methods can be used to estimate the…

样本选择下的致因概率：重新分析 Jóvenes en Acción 对正规就业的影响AI 解读

This paper identifies the probability of causation when there is sample selection. We show that the probability of causation is partially identified for individuals who are always observed regardless of treatment status and derive sharp bounds under three increasingly restrictive sets of assumptions. The first set imposes an exogenous treatment and a monotone sample selection mechanism. To tighten these bounds, the second set also imposes the monotone treatment response…