每日简报

定性结局的因果推断AI 解读

Causal inference methods such as instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, and difference-in-differences are widely used to identify and estimate treatment effects. However, when outcomes are qualitative, their application poses fundamental challenges. This paper highlights these challenges and proposes an alternative framework that focuses on well-defined and interpretable estimands. We show that conventional identification assumptions suffice for identifying the…

纵向数据中右删失工资的插补策略AI 解读

Censoring from above is a common problem with wage information as the reported wages are typically top-coded for confidentiality reasons. In administrative databases the information is often collected only up to a pre-specified threshold, for example, the contribution limit for the social security system. While directly accounting for the censoring is possible for some analyses, the most flexible solution is to impute the values above the censoring point. This strategy…

用平衡权重整合随机试验与外部对照数据：估计目标与估计量比较AI 解读

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) face inherent limitations, such as ethical or resource constraints, which lead to a limited number of study participants. To address these limitations, recent research endeavors have sought to incorporate external control (EC) data, such as historical trial data or real-world data, with RCT data in treatment effect evaluation. This integration introduces unique questions regarding target population specification, causal estimand, and…

随机分块协方差矩阵估计AI 解读

Motivated by a neuroscience application we study the problem of statistical estimation of a high-dimensional covariance matrix with a block structure. The block model embeds a structural assumption: the population of items (neurons) can be divided into latent sub-populations with shared associative covariation within blocks and shared associative or dis-associative covariation across blocks. Unlike the block diagonal assumption, our block structure incorporates positive or…

谱分解辅助的多研究因子分析AI 解读

This article focuses on covariance estimation for multi-study data. Popular approaches employ factor-analytic terms with shared and study-specific loadings that decompose the variance into (i) a shared low-rank component, (ii) study-specific low-rank components, and (iii) a diagonal term capturing idiosyncratic variability. Our proposed methodology estimates the latent factors via spectral decompositions, with a novel approach for separating shared and specific factors, and…

离线逆强化学习与动态离散选择模型的经验风险最小化方法AI 解读

We study the problem of estimating Dynamic Discrete Choice (DDC) models, also known as offline Maximum Entropy-Regularized Inverse Reinforcement Learning (offline MaxEnt-IRL) in machine learning. The objective is to recover reward or $Q^*$ functions that govern agent behavior from offline behavior data. In this paper, we propose a globally convergent gradient-based method for solving these problems without the restrictive assumption of linearly parameterized rewards. The…

处理分配存在干扰时直接平均处理效应的稳健推断AI 解读

This paper develops methods for uncertainty quantification in causal inference settings with random network interference. We study the large-sample distributional properties of the classical difference-in-means Hajek treatment effect estimator, and propose a robust inference procedure for the (conditional) direct average treatment effect. Our framework allows for cross-unit interference in both the outcome equation and the treatment assignment mechanism. Drawing from…

高维混合模型的局部几何：有效谱理论与动力学相变AI 解读

We study the local geometry of empirical risks in high dimensions via the spectral theory of their Hessian and information matrices. We focus on settings where the data, $(Y_\ell)_{\ell =1}^n \in \mathbb{R}^d$, are i.i.d. draws of a $k$-Gaussian mixture model, and the loss depends on the projection of the data into a fixed number of vectors, namely $\mathbf{x}^\top Y$, where $\mathbf{x}\in \mathbb{R}^{d\times C}$ are the parameters, and $C$ need not equal $k$. This setting…

利用数据整合与迁移学习改进变量选择性质AI 解读

We study variable selection (also called support recovery) in high-dimensional sparse linear regression when one has external information on which variables are likely to be associated with the response. Consistent recovery is only possible under somewhat restrictive conditions on sample size, dimension, signal strength, and sparsity. We investigate how these conditions can be relaxed by incorporating said external information. A key application that we consider is…

高维参数嵌套误差回归的小区域贫困指标经验最优预测AI 解读

The Nested Error Regression Model with High-Dimensional Parameters (NERHDP) is extended to address challenges in small area poverty estimation. A robust and flexible framework is proposed to derive empirical best predictors (EBPs) of small area poverty indicators while accommodating heterogeneity in regression coefficients and sampling variances across areas. To mitigate the computational limitations of the existing algorithm, an efficient estimation procedure is introduced,…

威布尔、伽马与对数正态分布的矩单调性AI 解读

This paper investigates the moment monotonicity property of Weibull, Gamma, and Log-normal distributions. We provide the first complete mathematical proofs for the monotonicity of the function $E(X^n)^{\frac{1}{n}}$ specific to these distributions. Through the derivations, we identify a key property: in many cases, one of the two parameters defining each distribution can be effectively canceled out. This finding opens up opportunities for improved parameter estimation of…

利用一致性预测组合预测按地区与能源来源分解的意大利日电力产量AI 解读

A novel approach is applied for improving forecast accuracy and achieving coherence in forecasting the Italian daily energy generation time series. In hierarchical frameworks such as national energy generation disaggregated by geographical zones and energy sources, independently generated base forecasts often result in inconsistencies across the constraints. We deal with this issue through a coherent balanced multi-task forecast combination approach, which combines unbiased…

对照始终不可观测时的时间序列处理效应分析AI 解读

Estimating treatment effects in time series data presents a significant challenge, especially when the control group is always unobservable. For example, in analyzing the effects of Christmas on retail sales, we lack direct observation of what would have occurred in late December without the Christmas impact. To address this, we try to recover the control group in the event period while accounting for confounders and temporal dependencies. Experimental results on the M5…

依赖与不确定性：基于 Tsallis 熵的信息度量AI 解读

In multivariate analysis, uncertainty arises from two sources: the marginal distributions of the variables and their dependence structure. Quantifying the dependence structure is crucial, as it provides valuable insights into the relationships among components of a random vector. Copula functions effectively capture this dependence structure independent of marginals, making copula-based information measures highly significant. However, existing copula-based information…

平衡灵活性与可解释性：基于随机森林的条件线性模型估计AI 解读

Traditional parametric econometric models often rely on rigid functional forms, while nonparametric techniques, despite their flexibility, frequently lack interpretability. This paper proposes a parsimonious alternative by modeling the outcome $Y$ as a linear function of a vector of variables of interest $\boldsymbol{X}$, conditional on additional covariates $\boldsymbol{Z}$. Specifically, the conditional expectation is expressed as $\mathbb{E}[Y|\boldsymbol{X},\boldsymbol{Z}]=\boldsymbol{X}^{T}\boldsymbolβ(\boldsymbol{Z})$…

张量动态条件相关模型：探索投资“圣杯”的新方法AI 解读

Style investing creates asset classes (or the so-called "styles") with low correlations, aligning well with the principle of "Holy Grail of investing" in terms of portfolio selection. The returns of styles naturally form a tensor-valued time series, which requires new tools for studying the dynamics of the conditional correlation matrix to facilitate the aforementioned principle. Towards this goal, we introduce a new tensor dynamic conditional correlation (TDCC) model, which…

通过尺度参数发现重尾线性结构方程模型中的因果关系AI 解读

Causal dependence modelling of multivariate extremes is intended to improve our understanding of the relationships amongst variables associated with rare events. Regular variation provides a standard framework in the study of extremes. This paper concerns the linear structural equation model with regularly varying noise variables. We focus on extreme observations generated from such a model and propose a causal discovery method based on the scaling parameters of its extremal…

局部稳健政策学习：不平等、机会不平等与代际流动AI 解读

Policy makers need to decide whether to treat or not to treat heterogeneous individuals. The optimal treatment choice depends on the welfare function that the policy maker has in mind and it is referred to as the policy learning problem. I study a general setting for policy learning with semiparametric Social Welfare Functions (SWFs) that can be estimated by locally robust/orthogonal moments based on U-statistics. This rich class of SWFs substantially expands the setting in…

孟德尔随机化中的异常工具变量检测AI 解读

Mendelian Randomisation (MR) uses genetic variants as instrumental variables to infer causal effects of exposures on an outcome. One key assumption of MR is that the genetic variants used as instrumental variables are independent of the outcome conditional on the risk factor and unobserved confounders. Violations of this assumption, i.e. the effect of the instrumental variables on the outcome through a path other than the risk factor included in the model (which can be…

极端协变量下的二元结果模型：估计与预测AI 解读

This paper presents a novel semiparametric method to study the effects of extreme events on binary outcomes and subsequently forecast future outcomes. Our approach, based on Bayes' theorem and regularly varying (RV) functions, facilitates a Pareto approximation in the tail without imposing parametric assumptions beyond the tail. We analyze cross-sectional as well as static and dynamic panel data models, incorporate additional covariates, and accommodate the unobserved…

随机实验协变量平衡的高斯化设计优化AI 解读

Achieving covariate balance in randomized experiments enhances the precision of treatment effect estimation. However, existing methods often require heuristic adjustments based on domain knowledge and are primarily developed for binary treatments. This paper presents Gaussianized Design Optimization, a novel framework for optimally balancing covariates in experimental design. The core idea is to Gaussianize the treatment assignments: we model treatments as transformations of…

通过潜在不变因果机制实现时间序列领域适应AI 解读

Time series domain adaptation aims to transfer the complex temporal dependence from the labeled source domain to the unlabeled target domain. Recent advances leverage the stable causal mechanism over observed variables to model the domain-invariant temporal dependence. However, modeling precise causal structures in high-dimensional data, such as videos, remains challenging. Additionally, direct causal edges may not exist among observed variables (e.g., pixels). These…

分别可交换经验过程的极大不等式AI 解读

This paper derives new maximal inequalities for empirical processes associated with separately exchangeable random arrays. For fixed index dimension $K\ge 1$, we establish a global maximal inequality bounding the $q$-th moment ($q\in[1,\infty)$) of the supremum of these processes. We also obtain a refined local maximal inequality controlling the first absolute moment of the supremum. Both results are proved for a general pointwise measurable function class. Our approach uses…

条件三重差分法AI 解读

Triple difference-in-differences designs are widely used to estimate causal effects in empirical work. Surveying the literature, we find that most applications include controls. We show that this standard practice is generally biased for the target causal estimand when covariate distributions differ across groups. To address this, we propose identifying a causal estimand by fixing the covariate distribution to that of one group. We then develop a double-robust estimator and…