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Prediction Intervals for Synthetic Control Methods

Matias D. Cattaneo, Yingjie Feng, Rocio Titiunik

arXiv 15 Dec 2019 · Statistics — Methodology · publishedJournal of the American Statistical Association (2021) · 18 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:1912.07120 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

Uncertainty quantification is a fundamental problem in the analysis and interpretation of synthetic control (SC) methods. We develop conditional prediction intervals in the SC framework, and provide conditions under which these intervals offer finite-sample probability guarantees. Our method allows for covariate adjustment and non-stationary data. The construction begins by noting that the statistical uncertainty of the SC prediction is governed by two distinct sources of randomness: one coming from the construction of the (likely misspecified) SC weights in the pre-treatment period, and the other coming from the unobservable stochastic error in the post-treatment period when the treatment effect is analyzed. Accordingly, our proposed prediction intervals are constructed taking into account both sources of randomness. For implementation, we propose a simulation-based approach along with finite-sample-based probability bound arguments, naturally leading to principled sensitivity analysis methods. We illustrate the numerical performance of our methods using empirical applications and a small simulation study. Python, R and Stata software packages implementing our methodology are available.

Citation extraction

36
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Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1Chernozhukov, V., Wüthrich, K., and Zhu, Y (2021) b), An Exact and Robust Conformal Inference Method for Counterfactual and Synthetic Controls1.00065100%
2Abadie, A., Diamond, A., and Hainmueller, J (2010) Synthetic control methods for comparative case studies: Estimating the effect of California’s tobacco control program0.92843100%
3Abadie, A., and Gardeazabal, J (2003) The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country0.81142100%
4Abadie, A (2021) Using Synthetic Controls: Feasibility, Data Requirements, and Methodological Aspects0.64422100%
5Cattaneo, M., Feng, Y., Palomba, F., and Titiunik, R (2021) scpi: Uncertainty Quantification for Synthetic Control Estimators self0.64422100%
6Chernozhukov, V., Wüthrich, K., and Zhu, Y (2021) a), Distributional Conformal Prediction0.64422100%
7Doukhan, P (2012) Mixing: Properties and Examples0.64422100%
8Raic, M (2019) A Multivariate Berry–Esseen Theorem with Explicit Constants0.64422100%
9Vershynin, R (2018) High-Dimensional Probability: An Introduction with Applications in Data Science0.64422100%
10Vovk, V (2012) Conditional Validity of Inductive Conformal Predictors, in0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 36 scored citations.

Cited by, within the corpus

arXiv econ.EM papers that cite this one, ranked by how heavily they lean on it.

Citing paperIntensityMentionsSections
1Debiasing and $t$-tests for synthetic control inference on average causal effects1.00073
2Assessing the Sensitivity of Synthetic Control Treatment Effect Estimates to Misspecification Error0.94164
3scpi: Uncertainty Quantification for Synthetic Control Methods0.92843
4On the relationship between prediction intervals, tests of sharp nulls and inference on realized treatment effects in settings with few treated units0.92843
5Supplement to “Uncertainty Quantification in Synthetic Controls with Staggered Treatment Adoption”0.87462
6Inference with few treated units0.81142
7Asymptotically Unbiased Synthetic Control Methods by Moment Matching0.73732
8Distributionally Robust Synthetic Control: Ensuring Robustness Against Highly Correlated Controls and Weight Shifts0.73733
9Inference for Synthetic Controls via Refined Placebo Tests0.64422
10An Exact and Robust Conformal Inference Method for Counterfactual and Synthetic Controls0.51132