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Experimental Design under Network Interference

Davide Viviano

arXiv 18 Mar 2020 · Econometrics · 3 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2003.08421 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

This paper studies the design of two-wave experiments in the presence of spillover effects when the researcher aims to conduct precise inference on treatment effects. We consider units connected through a single network, local dependence among individuals, and a general class of estimands encompassing average treatment and average spillover effects. We introduce a statistical framework for designing two-wave experiments with networks, where the researcher optimizes over participants and treatment assignments to minimize the variance of the estimators of interest, using a first-wave (pilot) experiment to estimate the variance. We derive guarantees for inference on treatment effects and regret guarantees on the variance obtained from the proposed design mechanism. Our results illustrate the existence of a trade-off in the choice of the pilot study and formally characterize the pilot's size relative to the main experiment. Simulations using simulated and real-world networks illustrate the advantages of the method.

Citation extraction

60
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107
in-text mentions
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appendix boundary found by appendix_command · 43% of the source is main text. Read the extracted text to check this.

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
1Cai, J., A. De Janvry, and E. Sadoulet (2015) Social networks and the decision to insure1.00053100%
2Egger, D., J. Haushofer, E. Miguel, P. Niehaus, and M. W. Walker (2019) General equilibrium effects of cash transfers: experimental evidence from kenya1.00053100%
3Muralidharan, K., P. Niehaus, and S. Sukhtankar (2017) General equilibrium effects of (improving) public employment programs: Experimental evidence from india0.9507486%
4Leung, M. P (2020) Treatment and spillover effects under network interference0.92843100%
5Baird, S., J. A. Bohren, C. McIntosh, and B. Özler (2018) Optimal design of experiments in the presence of interference0.87482100%
6Athey, S., D. Eckles, and G. W. Imbens (2018) Exact p-values for network interference0.73732100%
7Aronow, P. M. and C. Samii (2017) Estimating average causal effects under general interference, with application to a social network experiment0.64422100%
8Eckles, D., B. Karrer, and J. Ugander (2017) Design and analysis of experiments in networks: Reducing bias from interference0.64422100%
9Karrer, B., L. Shi, M. Bhole, M. Goldman, T. Palmer, C. Gelman, M. K… (2021) Network experimentation at scale0.64422100%
10Kreindler, G., A. Gaduh, T. Graff, R. Hanna, and B. A. Olken (2023) Optimal public transportation networks: Evidence from the world's largest bus rapid transit system in jakarta0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 60 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
1Robust Signal Maximization in Spillover Experiments0.64422
2Stratification Trees for Adaptive Randomization in Randomized Controlled Trials0.40511
3Treatment Allocation with Strategic Agents0.40511
4Policy design in experiments with unknown interference0.40511
5On the Performance of the Neyman Allocation with Small Pilots0.40511
6Switchback Experiments under Geometric Mixing0.40511
7Network Synthetic Interventions: A Causal Framework for Panel Data Under Network Interference0.40511
8Causal clustering: design of cluster experiments under network interference0.40511
9A Primer on the Analysis of Randomized Experiments and a Survey of some Recent Advances0.40511
10Model-Based Inference and Experimental Design for Interference Using Partial Network Data0.40511