The paper identifies the best treatment to maximize NDPO, a key outcome in causal mediation analysis.
problem Identifying the treatment that maximizes the expected natural direct potential outcome (NDPO) in causal mediation analysis.
method Developed a fixed-confidence best-arm identification (BAI) algorithm based on the Track-and-Stop (TaS) framework, using a cutting-set method to solve a semi-infinite optimization problem.
result The proposed algorithm achieves sample-efficient identification with a high-probability correctness guarantee and asymptotic optimality.
Study introduces a new method to estimate causal mediation with multiple mediators.
problem Estimating causal effects with multiple mediators and confounders.
method Simulates potential outcomes using parametric and nonparametric models.
result General approach to estimating various causal mediation quantities.
A new method removes biases in data integration by using surrogate control outcomes.
problem Data integration methods can be biased due to data-dependent processes.
method Post-integrated inference method using surrogate control outcomes to account for latent heterogeneity.
result The method provides consistent and efficient estimators under minimal assumptions and potential misspecifications.
PO-Flow models potential and counterfactual outcomes for personalized treatment decisions.
problem Predicting individualized treatment effects from observational data.
method Continuous normalizing flow (CNF) framework for causal inference.
result Unified approach to potential outcome prediction, treatment effect estimation, and counterfactual prediction.
Estimates causal effects using machine learning for binary treatment and mediator.
problem Estimating direct and indirect quantile treatment effects under selection-on-observables.
method Double/debiased machine learning estimators based on efficient score functions.
result Uniform consistency and asymptotic normality of effect estimators.
The paper introduces metrics to rank potential outcomes for better decision-making.
problem Optimal action selection in uncertain situations using causal reasoning.
method Introducing two new metrics: probabilities of potential outcome ranking (PoR) and probability of achieving the best potential outcome (PoB). Establishing identification theorems and deriving bounds for these metrics, and presenting estimation methods.
result The estimators' finite-sample properties and their application to a real-world dataset are demonstrated.
Three approaches learn personalized treatment policies for UTI patients.
problem Learning optimal treatment policies in multiobjective settings with fully observed outcomes.
method Indirect and direct approaches using predictive models and without intermediate models.
result All approaches outperform clinicians in achieving better performance on all outcomes and trade-offs.
Unified approach for estimating quantiles of potential outcomes using inverse estimating equations.
problem Estimating quantiles of potential outcomes for causal inference.
method Inverse estimating equations and moment function.
result Unified approach to estimate mean and quantiles of potential outcomes.
Machine learning algorithms typically rely on optimization subroutines and are well-known to provide very effective outcomes for many types of problems. Here, we flip the reliance and ask the reverse question: can machine learning algorithms lead to more effective outcomes for optimization problems? Our goal is to trai…
CCN estimates full potential outcome distributions without restrictive assumptions.
problem Estimating CATE is insufficient; full potential outcome distributions provide greater insights.
method Collaborating Causal Networks (CCN) learns full potential outcome distributions without restrictive assumptions.
result CCN learns distributions that asymptotically capture true potential outcome distributions.
Dynamic treatment effects estimated over time using covariate balancing.
problem Estimating treatment effects in panel data with dynamic treatments.
method Dynamic covariate balancing with potential local projections.
result Established inferential guarantees for the proposed method.
The paper explores methods to better estimate treatment effects by leveraging shared structure in potential outcomes.
problem Estimating treatment effects when outcomes may vary widely and existing methods often assume heterogeneity.
method Investigates and compares three learning strategies: regularization, reparametrization, and a multi-task architecture.
result All three approaches improve upon existing baselines, providing insights into their relative strengths.
A new method models continuous-time counterfactual outcomes using neural controlled differential equations.
problem Estimating personalized healthcare outcomes over irregularly sampled data.
method Interpreting data as samples from a continuous-time process, modeling latent trajectory using controlled differential equations, and using adversarial training for time-dependent confounding.
result TE-CDE consistently outperforms existing approaches in irregularly sampled scenarios.
Paper introduces GDR-learners for estimating potential outcomes from observational data.
problem Lack of theoretical property of general Neyman-orthogonality in deep generative models.
method Develops flexible GDR-learners based on various deep generative models.
result GDR-learners possess quasi-oracle efficiency and rate double robustness, asymptotically optimal.
The paper bounds and identifies joint probabilities in causal inference with monotonicity assumptions.
problem Bounding and identifying joint probabilities of potential outcomes and observed variables under monotonicity assumptions.
method Proposes new families of monotonicity assumptions, formulates bounding problem as linear programming, introduces new monotonicity assumption for identification.
result Validated methods through numerical experiments and applied to real-world datasets.
The choice of making an intervention depends on its potential benefit or harm in comparison to alternatives. Estimating the likely outcome of alternatives from observational data is a challenging problem as all outcomes are never observed, and selection bias precludes the direct comparison of differently intervened gro…
Synthetic Combinations learns unit-specific causal outcomes for combinatorial interventions.
problem Estimating unit-specific causal outcomes for all combinations of p interventions in a heterogeneous setting. method Latent factor model with Fourier expansion sparsity, imposing structure across units and interventions.
result Synthetic Combinations provides consistent estimation with poly(r) * (N + s^2p) observations, outperforming previous methods.
New method improves causal inference by estimating complex treatment effects with active learning.
problem Traditional causal inference frameworks ignore interference and assume independent treatment effects.
method Active Learning in Causal Inference with Interference (ACI) using Gaussian process and genetic algorithms.
result ACI achieves accurate effects estimation with reduced data requirements in complex interference scenarios.
This tutorial introduces causal modeling methods for researchers.
problem Understanding causal relationships in research studies.
method Integrates potential outcomes and graphical methods for causal modeling.
result Clear notation and practical examples for applied researchers.
Decomposes spillover effects under misspecified exposure mappings.
problem Modeling outcomes as functions of own treatment and a misspecified exposure mapping of others' treatments.
method Pseudo-true estimands and local-global extension for structured misspecification.
result Sharp asymptotic decomposition into direct, local, and global components.
Estimates and tests treatment effects on entire outcome distributions.
problem Treatment effects on entire outcome distributions, not just averages.
method Proposes a novel estimand and doubly robust estimator, develops a test.
result First test with provably valid type 1 error guarantees in this setting.
This paper significantly improves on, and finishes to validate, an approach proposed in previous research in which safety outcomes were predicted from attributes with machine learning. Like in the original study, we use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to extract fundamental attributes from raw incident reports and ma…
Study clarifies variance of stratification estimators for causal effects.
problem Estimating average causal effects with discrete covariates.
method Combines insights from potential outcomes, causal diagrams, and structural models.
result Derives expressions for the variance of stratification estimators.
Causal inference is a critical research topic across many domains, such as statistics, computer science, education, public policy and economics, for decades. Nowadays, estimating causal effect from observational data has become an appealing research direction owing to the large amount of available data and low budget r…
Paper resolves the debate on process vs. outcome supervision in reinforcement learning.
problem Distinguishing between process and outcome supervision in reinforcement learning.
method Developed a technical tool (Change of Trajectory Measure Lemma) to show equivalence between outcome and process supervision under standard data coverage assumptions.
result Reinforcement learning through outcome supervision is statistically equivalent to process supervision, up to polynomial factors in horizon.
Predictions can shape outcomes, study helps predict these effects.
problem Understanding how predictions influence real-world outcomes.
method Causal identifiability analysis of prediction-covariate-outcome relationships.
result Standard supervised learning can identify transferable relationships from predictions.
Develops methods to analyze feature-outcome associations in subpopulations.
problem Challenges in understanding feature-outcome associations in high-dimensional data.
method Geometric decomposition framework using gradient flow and co-monotonicity decomposition.
result Identifies context-dependent patterns and improves statistical power and interpretability.
Proposes a method to improve CATE estimation by imputing missing potential outcomes.
problem Statistical discrepancy between distinct treatment groups in CATE estimation.
method Contrastive learning approach to reliably impute missing potential outcomes for a subset of individuals.
result Improves the accuracy and robustness of CATE estimation models.
Two new methods generate probabilistic forecasts of individual treatment effects.
problem Generating probabilistic forecasts of individual treatment effects for risk-aware decision-making.
method Proposes CCT and CMC meta-learners combining conformal predictive systems with analytic convolution or Monte Carlo sampling.
result Achieve probabilistically calibrated predictive distributions and performant continuous ranked probability scores.
Study efficient inference for network quantile causal effects with partial interference.
problem Estimating network causal effects on outcome quantiles with partial interference.
method Developed a nonparametric efficiency theory and a nonparametrically efficient estimator using a three-way cross-fitting procedure.
result Proposed estimator is consistent, asymptotically normal, and allows flexible estimation of nuisance functions.
We study how language on social media is linked to diseases such as atherosclerotic heart disease (AHD), diabetes and various types of cancer. Our proposed model leverages state-of-the-art sentence embeddings, followed by a regression model and clustering, without the need of additional labelled data. It allows to pred…
Enormous online textual information provides intriguing opportunities for understandings of social and economic semantics. In this paper, we propose a novel text regression model based on a conditional generative adversarial network (GAN), with an attempt to associate textual data and social outcomes in a semi-supervis…
Estimation of individual treatment effects is commonly used as the basis for contextual decision making in fields such as healthcare, education, and economics. However, it is often sufficient for the decision maker to have estimates of upper and lower bounds on the potential outcomes of decision alternatives to assess …
Develops new methods to estimate treatment effects in survival data with competing risks.
problem Estimating treatment effects in survival data with competing risks.
method Censoring Unbiased Transformations (CUTs) for survival outcomes with and without competing risks.
result Consistent estimates of heterogeneous cumulative incidence effects and total effects using HTE learners.
Proposes a framework for causal inference with processed outcomes in biomedical research.
problem Impact of intra-subject processing on inter-subject statistical inference in biomedical research.
method Semiparametric framework with multiply robust estimators and step-down procedure for high-dimensional inference.
result Superior performance of the proposed approach demonstrated through simulations and application to autism research.
The study analyzes optimization trajectories in neural networks to reveal redundancy and redundancy-reducing strategies.
problem Understanding the directional structure and redundancy in neural network optimization.
method Introducing natural notions of complexity for optimization trajectories and analyzing their directional nature.
result Training only scalar batchnorm parameters can match the performance of training the entire network, indicating potential for hybrid optimization schemes.
Method estimates CATE using RCT data to handle hidden confounders.
problem Estimating CATE in the presence of hidden confounders.
method Pseudo-confounder generator and CATE model alignment.
result Method reduces bias in CATE estimation.
We propose a novel approach for inferring the individualized causal effects of a treatment (intervention) from observational data. Our approach conceptualizes causal inference as a multitask learning problem; we model a subject's potential outcomes using a deep multitask network with a set of shared layers among the fa…
In the absence of unobserved confounders, matching and weighting methods are widely used to estimate causal quantities including the Average Treatment Effect on the Treated (ATT). Unfortunately, these methods do not necessarily achieve their goal of making the multivariate distribution of covariates for the control gro…
This paper presents an assessment of global economic energy potentials for all major natural energy resources. This work is based on both an extensive literature review and calculations using natural resource assessment data. Economic potentials are presented in the form of cost-supply curves, in terms of energy flows …
Wasserstein Policy Learning for Distributional Outcomes
problem Offline policy learning with distribution-valued outcomes
method Establishing statistical guarantees for policy learning framework
result Proven leading dependence on N and N-dim(Π) for finite-sample regret
FastMap-D embeds directed graphs using potential fields.
problem Embedding directed graphs in Euclidean space.
method Generalization of FastMap to handle directed graphs using a potential field and machine learning.
result FastMap-D outperforms other approaches in embedding directed graphs.
Method infers TCR effects on disease using patient data.
problem Estimating causal effects of TCR sequences on patient outcomes.
method Corrects for confounders using pre-selection TCR data and neural-network estimator.
result Identifies potentially therapeutic TCRs for COVID-19 severity.
The complexity of human cancer often results in significant heterogeneity in response to treatment. Precision medicine offers potential to improve patient outcomes by leveraging this heterogeneity. Individualized treatment rules (ITRs) formalize precision medicine as maps from the patient covariate space into the space…
Researchers develop a method to measure treatment effects in settings with shared states.
problem Measuring treatment effects in settings with shared states like prices, recommendations, or social signals.
method Double machine learning (DML) theorem with conditions for efficient inference under shared-state interference.
result Efficient estimation of average direct effect (ADE) and global average treatment effect (GATE) in various models.
Estimates personalized policies robust to shifts in target populations.
problem Estimating policies that perform well in diverse target populations.
method Develops methods for estimating robust policies considering shifts in outcomes and characteristics.
result Welfare-maximizing policies are robust to certain shifts in potential outcomes.
Proposes new method to handle hidden confounders in causal mediation analysis.
problem Break down total effect of treatment on outcome through different causal pathways.
method Combines proxy strategies and deep learning to uncover latent variables and estimate causal effects.
result Validated effectiveness of the proposed method for causal fairness analysis.
A new meta-learner improves prediction of individualized outcomes in sequential decisions.
problem Predicting individualized outcomes over long horizons in sequential decision-making.
method Developed a novel meta-learner called DRQ-learner with theoretical guarantees of orthogonality and quasi-oracle efficiency.
result DRQ-learner achieves quasi-oracle efficiency, doubly robustness, and Neyman-orthogonality.