The paper proposes a method to precisely decompose confounders and estimate treatment effects.
problem Estimating treatment effects from observational data with confounder identification and balancing.
method Learning decomposed representations to identify and balance confounders and non-confounders.
result The method achieves more precise treatment effect estimation than existing methods.
Causal discovery from data affected by latent confounders is an important and difficult challenge. Causal functional model-based approaches have not been used to present variables whose relationships are affected by latent confounders, while some constraint-based methods can present them. This paper proposes a causal f…
New method recovers latent confounders from high-dimensional proxy variables.
problem Detecting latent confounders from high-dimensional proxy variables.
method Proxy Confounder Factorization (PCF) framework using ICA-PCF and GD-PCF.
result ICA-PCF recovers confounders with high correlation and low error in synthetic and real-world data.
Estimates causal effects with selection bias and confounding using regression.
problem Estimating causal effects in presence of selection bias and confounding.
method Two-step regression estimator (TSR) that corrects for selection bias and accounts for confounding.
result TSR estimator reduces variance and is validated in simulations.
New method removes hidden confounders for unbiased treatment effect estimation.
problem Bias in treatment effect estimation due to unobserved confounders.
method Proposes a new debiased estimation approach via SVD to handle heterogeneous confounding.
result Established rate of convergence for the estimator under different noise conditions.
The paper addresses statistical estimation in MDPs with confounders using instrumental variables.
problem Statistical estimation of value functions in MDPs with unobservable confounders.
method Two-stage estimator based on instrumental variables for confounded linear MDPs.
result Established statistical properties of the two-stage estimator, including error bounds and asymptotic normality.
Granger causality analysis, as one of the most popular time series causality methods, has been widely used in the economics, neuroscience. However, unobserved confounders is a fundamental problem in the observational studies, which is still not solved for the non-linear Granger causality. The application works often de…
New method tackles confounded bandit problems with dual instrumental variables.
problem Confounded contextual bandit problems where noise affects both contexts and rewards.
method Dual instrumental variable regression applied to reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces.
result Near-optimal convergence rate and computationally efficient algorithms proved.
Estimates effects of multiple interventions with hidden confounders using single-variable interventions.
problem Estimating effects of multiple interventions in the presence of hidden confounders.
method Identifiability under nonlinear structural causal model with additive Gaussian noise; pooling and joint likelihood maximization.
result Proven identifiability and superior performance compared to baseline.
Single proxy variable helps estimate causal effects from confounders.
problem Estimating causal effects from treatment to outcome when unobserved confounders are present.
method Assumes a single, potentially multi-dimensional proxy variable of the unobserved confounder and a known mechanism generating the proxy from the confounder. Proves causal effects are identifiable under completeness assumption.
result Causal effects are identifiable under SPICE assumption.
Paper develops IV method for consistent OPE in confounded MDPs.
problem Confounding variables in observational data affect OPE effectiveness.
method Instrumental variable approach for consistent off-policy evaluation.
result IV method enables correct identification of target policy's value.
Aggregated variables can mask causal effects, turning unconfounded into confounded relations.
problem Aggregated variables can mask causal effects, leading to paradoxical confounding.
method Analysis of how aggregated variables can change the definition of causality and the feasibility of causal relations.
result Macro causal relations are defined by micro states, not just aggregated variables.
Proxy methods adapt to distribution shifts without explicitly modeling latent confounders.
problem Adapting to distribution shifts under latent variable confounding.
method Proximal causal learning, two-stage kernel estimation.
result Proxy methods outperform other methods in adapting to complex distribution shifts.
Estimates causal effect using proxies in multi-domain settings.
problem Estimating causal effect in settings with unobserved confounders across domains.
method Proposes estimation techniques using proxy variables for discrete or categorical data.
result Proves identifiability and consistency of causal effect estimation.
New method identifies causal relationships using proxy variables in the presence of unmeasured confounders.
problem Challenges in inferring causal relationships due to unmeasured confounding.
method Develops a general nonparametric approach using a single negative control outcome (NCO) and negative control exposure (NCE).
result Establishes a new identification result and proposes a kernel-based testing procedure.
Deep CITs test conditional independence in images, improving brain MRI scan analysis.
problem Testing conditional independence in complex, high-dimensional variables like images.
method Combines embedding maps and nonparametric CITs for feature representations.
result Valid DNCITs for brain MRI scans and behavioral traits, confirming null results.
Paper tackles confounded ANMs, estimating ACEs with minimal interventions.
problem Estimating causal effects in the presence of unobserved confounders.
method Interventional distributions and randomized algorithm to reduce the number of required interventions.
result Poly-logarithmic number of interventions sufficient to infer causal effects in confounded ANMs.
ContiVAE estimates individual dose-response curves from unobserved confounders using observational data.
problem Estimating causal effects of continuous treatments considering unobserved confounders.
method Variational auto-encoder with a Tilted Gaussian prior distribution modeling hidden confounders as latent variables.
result ContiVAE outperforms existing methods by up to 62% in predicting individual dose-response curves.
The paper identifies causal effects in latent variable models using higher-order cumulants.
problem Challenges in identifying causal effects in latent variable models with latent confounders.
method Using higher-order cumulants, the paper addresses two challenging setups: a single proxy variable and underspecified instrumental variables.
result Causal effects are identifiable with a single proxy or instrument.
CgNN uses network structure as IVs to estimate causal effects in networks.
problem Hidden confounders complicate causal effect estimation in network data.
method CgNN combines GNNs and attention mechanisms to leverage network structure as IVs.
result CgNN effectively mitigates hidden confounder bias and improves causal effect estimation.
Much research has been devoted to the problem of estimating treatment effects from observational data; however, most methods assume that the observed variables only contain confounders, i.e., variables that affect both the treatment and the outcome. Unfortunately, this assumption is frequently violated in real-world ap…
Kernel methods identify treatment effects with unobserved confounding using negative controls.
problem Learning causal relationships with unmeasured confounding.
method Kernel ridge regression algorithms for nonparametric treatment effects.
result Uniform consistency and finite sample rates of convergence proved.
Kernel methods estimate causal effects with a single proxy for deterministic confounders.
problem Estimating causal effects with a single proxy for an unobserved confounder.
method Two kernel-based methods: two-stage regression and maximum moment restriction.
result Both kernel methods can consistently estimate the causal effect.
New method identifies causal effects with categorical unobserved confounders.
problem Estimating causal effects in the presence of unobserved confounders.
method Mixture learning and tensor decomposition for consistent estimation.
result Causal effects are identifiable with categorical unobserved confounders under suitable conditions.
New method discovers causal relationships in confounded systems.
problem Discovering causal relationships in systems with unmeasured confounding variables.
method Differentiable algebraic constraints for continuous optimization of ADMGs.
result Effective method for causal discovery in confounded linear systems.
Bayesian networks with hidden variables help identify causal relationships obscured by confounding.
problem Identifying causal relationships obscured by unobserved confounders.
method Use finite k-mixtures of Bayesian networks with hidden variables to recover the joint probability distribution and identify causal relationships. result First algorithm to learn mixtures of non-empty DAGs, recovering identifiable causal relationships.
We study a model where one target variable Y is correlated with a vector X:=(X_1,...,X_d) of predictor variables being potential causes of Y. We describe a method that infers to what extent the statistical dependences between X and Y are due to the influence of X on Y and to what extent due to a hidden common cause (co…
New method identifies causal direction with latent confounders.
problem Identifying causal direction in presence of multiple latent variables.
method Use of joint higher-order cumulant matrix properties.
result Causal asymmetry can be seen from rank deficiency properties of cumulant matrices.
Statistical learning on biological data can be challenging due to confounding variables in sample collection and processing. Confounders can cause models to generalize poorly and result in inaccurate prediction performance metrics if models are not validated thoroughly. In this paper, we propose methods to control for …
Paper develops a method to estimate value of a policy in confounded MDPs.
problem Estimating value of a policy in the presence of unmeasured confounders.
method Uses auxiliary variables to identify target policy's value in a confounded MDP.
result Develops an off-policy value estimator robust to model misspecification.
Method bounds continuous-valued treatment effects when confounding variables are hidden.
problem Inferring causal effects of continuous treatments when hidden confounders are present.
method Novel methodology to bound average and conditional average continuous-valued treatment effects.
result Method gives tighter coverage of true dose-response curve than existing methods.
Intact-VAE estimates treatment effects with latent confounders.
problem Estimating treatment effects under unobserved confounding.
method Intact-VAE, a VAE variant, models latent confounders to identify treatment effects.
result Intact-VAE is a consistent estimator of treatment effects under certain settings.
DCCD-CONF discovers causal graphs with unmeasured confounders.
problem Discovering causal relationships in systems with unmeasured confounders.
method Differentiable learning of nonlinear cyclic causal graphs using interventional data.
result DCCD-CONF outperforms state-of-the-art methods in causal graph recovery and confounder identification.
Study identifies parameters in causal models with latent confounding.
problem Parameter identification in linear non-Gaussian causal models with latent confounding.
method Graphical criterion for necessary and sufficient identifiability of direct causal effects, with polynomial-time algorithm.
result Developed a graphical criterion for identifying direct causal effects in latent variable models with arbitrary non-linear confounding.
New method scores DAGs by identifying unobserved confounding.
problem Unobserved confounding complicates causal discovery.
method Score-based causal discovery algorithm that accounts for unobserved confounding.
result Sparse linear Gaussian DAGs can be recovered from observed data.
New method for causal effect estimation with hidden confounders.
problem Estimating causal effects in the presence of hidden confounders.
method Singular value decomposition of a conditional expectation operator followed by saddle-point optimization.
result Our method outperforms existing methods on common benchmarks.
New method quantifies variable importance in causal forests for treatment effect heterogeneity.
problem Lack of understanding how input variables affect treatment effect heterogeneity in causal forests.
method Developed a new importance variable algorithm for causal forests based on the drop and relearn principle.
result Shows how to handle forest retraining without a confounding variable and introduces a corrective term for confounders.
New method tackles OOD robustness with a single additional variable.
problem Out-of-distribution generalization with unobserved confounders.
method Identifiability assumptions using a single additional variable.
result Superior empirical performance on benchmark tasks.
New method estimates latent gene expression factors without overlap with known confounders.
problem Estimating latent variance components in gene expression data with known confounders.
method Restricted maximum-likelihood method maximizing likelihood on orthogonal subspace.
result Method reduces runtime and attains greater likelihood values than gradient-based optimizers.
Unobserved confounding is a major hurdle for causal inference from observational data. Confounders---the variables that affect both the causes and the outcome---induce spurious non-causal correlations between the two. Wang & Blei (2018) lower this hurdle with "the blessings of multiple causes," where the correlation st…
Study tackles OPE in confounded settings, estimating policy value from proxies.
problem Difficulty in OPE due to unobserved confounders in infinite-horizon RL.
method Two-stage approach: estimating stationary distribution ratios and combining optimal balancing.
result Policy value can be identified from off-policy data with proxies and latent variable model.
Proposes a new VAE model to estimate treatment effects from confounded data.
problem Estimating treatment effects in the presence of confounding variables.
method Intact-VAE, a variant of variational autoencoder (VAE), using a latent variable for confounders.
result Proves identification of treatment effects under unconfoundedness and shows state-of-the-art performance.
We consider learning a causal ordering of variables in a linear non-Gaussian acyclic model called LiNGAM. Several existing methods have been shown to consistently estimate a causal ordering assuming that all the model assumptions are correct. But, the estimation results could be distorted if some assumptions actually a…
Study shows how adjusting for a binary proxy can bound causal effects.
problem Bounding causal effects with a binary confounder and proxy.
method Monotonicity assumption applied to a binary confounder and observed proxy.
result Adjusting for a proxy produces a measure of the effect between unadjusted and true measures.
Extends linear structural causal models to include deterministic relations and latent confounders for causal discovery.
problem Causal discovery in linear SCMs with deterministic relations and latent confounders.
method Extended existing results to include deterministic relations and latent confounders, derived necessary and sufficient conditions for unique identifiability, proposed an algorithm for recovery.
result First work on identifiability results for causal discovery under latent confounding and deterministic relationships.
We consider learning the possible causal direction of two observed variables in the presence of latent confounding variables. Several existing methods have been shown to consistently estimate causal direction assuming linear or some type of nonlinear relationship and no latent confounders. However, the estimation resul…
Extracts invariant features to predict Y without confounding by Z, using conditional independence and optimal transport.
problem Extracting invariant features to predict Y without confounding by Z, a response variable influenced by unknown confounders Z.
method Develops a methodology penalizing statistical dependence between feature and confounders conditioned on Y, using the Optimal Transport Barycenter Problem.
result The method extracts invariant features in the Gaussian case, equivalent to penalizing dependence between feature and conditional random variable Z_Y.
New method estimates treatment effects over time with unobserved confounders.
problem Estimating treatment effects from observational data with unobserved confounders.
method Sequential Deconfounder using Gaussian process latent variable model.
result Unbiased estimates of individualized treatment responses over time.