每日简报

星系天体物理学的因果结构AI 解读

Data-driven astrophysics currently relies on the detection and characterisation of correlations between objects' properties, which are then used to test physical theories that make predictions for them. This process fails to utilise information in the data that forms a crucial part of the theories' predictions, namely which variables are directly correlated (as opposed to accidentally correlated through others), the directions of these determinations, and the presence or…

网络干扰下的双重差分AI 解读

This paper develops doubly robust estimators for direct (DATT) and spillover (SATT) average treatment effects on the treated in network-based difference-in-differences (DiD) designs. Unlike standard DiD methods, the proposed approach explicitly accommodates treatment spillovers and high-dimensional network confounding arising from complex inter-unit dependencies. Identification relies on a conditional parallel-trends assumption that holds after adjusting for high-dimensional…

回归不连续设计中的说服效应AI 解读

We develop a framework for identifying and estimating persuasion effects in regression discontinuity (RD) designs. The RD persuasion rate measures the probability that individuals at the threshold would take the action if exposed to a persuasive message, given that they would not take the action without exposure. We present identification results for both sharp and fuzzy RD designs, derive sharp bounds under various data scenarios, and extend the analysis to local compliers.…

反事实公平评估的部分识别方法AI 解读

The wide adoption of AI decision-making systems in critical domains such as criminal justice, loan approval, and hiring processes has heightened concerns about algorithmic fairness. As we often only have access to the output of algorithms without insights into their internal mechanisms, it was natural to examine how decisions would alter when auxiliary sensitive attributes (such as race) change. This led the research community to come up with counterfactual fairness…

条件矩限制模型中的广义贝叶斯方法AI 解读

This paper develops a generalized (quasi-) Bayes framework for conditional moment restriction models, where the parameter of interest is a nonparametric structural function of endogenous variables. We establish contraction rates for a class of Gaussian process priors and provide conditions under which a Bernstein-von Mises theorem holds for the quasi-Bayes posterior. Consequently, we show that optimally weighted quasi-Bayes credible sets achieve exact asymptotic frequentist…

“事后”预分析计划：未预注册规格的有效推断AI 解读

Pre-analysis plans (PAPs) have become standard in experimental economics research, but it is nevertheless common to see researchers deviating from their PAPs to supplement preregistered estimates with non-prespecified findings. While such ex-post analysis can yield valuable insights, there is broad uncertainty over how to interpret -- or whether to even acknowledge -- non-preregistered results. In this paper, we consider the case of a truth-seeking researcher who, after…

提高 A/B 检验灵敏度：结合 CUPED 与截尾均值AI 解读

Accurate estimation of treatment effects in online A/B testing is challenging with zero-inflated and skewed metrics. Traditional tests, like Welch's t-test, often lack sensitivity with heavy-tailed data due to their reliance on means, as opposed to e.g., percentiles. The Controlled Experiments Using Pre-experiment Data (CUPED) technique improves sensitivity by reducing variance, yet that variance reduction is insufficient for highly skewed metrics. Alternatively, Yuen's…

孟加拉国七月革命中镇压与动员的混合方法分析AI 解读

The 2024 July Revolution in Bangladesh represents a landmark event in the study of civil resistance. This study investigates the central paradox of the success of this student-led civilian uprising: how state violence, intended to quell dissent, ultimately fueled the movement's victory. We employ a mixed-methods approach. First, we develop a qualitative narrative of the conflict's timeline to generate specific, testable hypotheses. Then, using a disaggregated, event-level…

空间与时间处理效应边界的统一框架：理论与识别AI 解读

This paper develops a unified theoretical framework for detecting and estimating boundaries in treatment effects across both spatial and temporal dimensions. We formalize the concept of treatment effect boundaries as structural parameters characterizing regime transitions where causal effects cease to operate. Building on reaction-diffusion models of information propagation, we establish conditions under which spatial and temporal boundaries share common dynamics governed by…

SLOPE：为总体推广设计稳健研究AI 解读

A popular task in generalization is to learn about a new, target population based on data from an existing, source population. This task relies on conditional exchangeability, which asserts that differences between the source and target populations are fully captured by observable characteristics of the two populations. Unfortunately, this assumption is often untenable in practice due to unobservable differences between the source and target populations. Worse, the…

面板数据断点检测的加权回归方法AI 解读

New procedures for detecting a change in the cross-sectional mean of panel data are proposed. The procedures rely on estimating nuisance parameters using certain cross-sectional means across panels using a weighted least squares regression. In the case of weak cross-sectional dependence between panels, we show how test statistics can be constructed to have a limit null distribution not depending on any choice of bandwidths typically needed to estimate the long-run variances…

利用干预数据刻画并学习含潜在混杂与处理后选择的因果图AI 解读

Interventional causal discovery seeks to identify causal relations by leveraging distributional changes introduced by interventions, even in the presence of latent confounders. Beyond the spurious dependencies induced by latent confounders, we highlight a common yet often overlooked challenge in the problem due to post-treatment selection, in which samples are selectively included in datasets after interventions. This fundamental challenge widely exists in biological…

重复匹配博弈的实证框架AI 解读

We introduce a model of dynamic matching with transferable utility, extending the static model of Shapley and Shubik (1971). Forward-looking agents have individual states that evolve with current matches. Each period, a matching market with market-clearing prices takes place. We prove the existence of an equilibrium with time-varying distributions of agent types and show it is the solution to a social planner's problem. We also prove that a stationary equilibrium exists. We…

校准反事实共形公平性：分布偏移下的覆盖率平等AI 解读

We present Calibrated Counterfactual Conformal Fairness ($C^3F$), a post-hoc procedure that targets group-conditional coverage parity under covariate shift. $C^3F$ combines importance-weighted conformal calibration with a counterfactual regularizer based on path-specific effects in a structural causal model. The method estimates group-specific nonconformity quantiles using likelihood-ratio weights so that coverage degrades gracefully with the second moment of the weights. We…

利用大语言模型改善实验设计：生成式分层方法AI 解读

Pre-experiment stratification, or blocking, is a well-established technique for designing more efficient experiments and increasing the precision of the experimental estimates. However, when researchers have access to many covariates at the experiment design stage, they often face challenges in effectively selecting or weighting covariates when creating their strata. This paper proposes a Generative Stratification procedure that leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to…

用于透明治疗效应估计的分阶段事件树AI 解读

Average and conditional treatment effects are fundamental causal quantities used to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments in various critical applications, including clinical settings and policy-making. Beyond the gold-standard estimators from randomized trials, numerous methods have been proposed to estimate treatment effects using observational data. In this paper, we provide a novel characterization of widely used causal inference techniques within the framework of…

三元网络形成AI 解读

We study estimation and inference for triadic link formation with dyad-level fixed effects in a nonlinear binary choice logit framework. Dyad-level effects provide a richer and more realistic representation of heterogeneity across pairs of dimensions (e.g. importer-exporter, importer-product, exporter-product), yet their sheer number creates a severe incidental parameter problem. We propose a novel ``hexad logit'' estimator and establish its consistency and asymptotic…

时间平滑反事实曲线的计算与统计高效估计AI 解读

Longitudinal causal inference is concerned with defining, identifying, and estimating the effect of a time-varying intervention on a time-varying outcome that is indexed by a follow-up time. In an observational study, Robins's generalized g-formula can identify causal effects induced by a broad class of time-varying interventions. Various methods for estimating the generalized g-formula have been posed for different outcome types, such as a failure event indicator by a…

遥感审计：利用卫星影像检验随机化、选择与缺失AI 解读

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the benchmark for causal inference, yet field implementation can drift from the registered design or, by chance, yield imbalances. We introduce a remote audit -- a preregistrable, design-based diagnostic that uses strictly pre-treatment, publicly available satellite imagery to test whether assignment is independent of local conditions. The audit implements a conditional randomization test that asks whether treatment is more predictable…

比例渐近下双重稳健泛函估计的最优干扰函数调参AI 解读

In this paper, we explore the asymptotically optimal tuning parameter choice in ridge regression for estimating nuisance functions of a statistical functional that has recently gained prominence in conditional independence testing and causal inference. Given a sample of size $n$, we study estimators of the Expected Conditional Covariance (ECC) between variables $Y$ and $A$ given a high-dimensional covariate $X \in \mathbb{R}^p$. Under linear regression models for $Y$ and $A$…

通过因果桥结合生成建模与自编码器AI 解读

We consider inferring the causal effect of a treatment (intervention) on an outcome of interest in situations where there is potentially an unobserved confounder influencing both the treatment and the outcome. This is achievable by assuming access to two separate sets of control (proxy) measurements associated with treatment and outcomes, which are used to estimate treatment effects through a function termed the em causal bridge (CB). We present a new theoretical…

结果随机缺失时的有效双重差分估计AI 解读

The Difference-in-Differences (DiD) method is a fundamental tool for causal inference, yet its application is often complicated by missing data. Although recent work has developed robust DiD estimators for complex settings like staggered treatment adoption, these methods typically assume complete data and fail to address the critical challenge of outcomes that are missing at random (MAR) -- a common problem that invalidates standard estimators. We develop a rigorous…

断点回归效应及其外部有效性的联合推断AI 解读

The external validity of regression discontinuity designs is crucial for informing policy but is rarely examined in applied work. To advance empirical practice, we propose a joint inference procedure for the treatment effect and its local external validity, captured by the treatment effect derivative (TED), within a robust bias correction framework. We further introduce a locally linear treatment effects assumption, which extends the scope of the TED and enables…

死亡导致退出时的纵向处理效应：二维目标量与生活质量案例AI 解读

When longitudinal outcomes are evaluated in mortal populations, their non-existence after death complicates the analysis and its causal interpretation. Where popular methods often merge longitudinal outcome and survival into one scale or otherwise try to circumvent the problem of mortality, some highly relevant questions require survival to be acknowledged as a unique condition. "\textit{What are my chances of survival}" and "\textit{What can I expect for my condition while…