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Multiple Randomization Designs

Patrick Bajari, Brian Burdick, Guido W. Imbens, Lorenzo Masoero, James McQueen, Thomas Richardson, Ido M. Rosen

arXiv 27 Dec 2021 · Statistics — Methodology · publishedJournal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B (Statistical Methodology) (2025) · 2 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2112.13495 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

In this study we introduce a new class of experimental designs. In a classical randomized controlled trial (RCT), or A/B test, a randomly selected subset of a population of units (e.g., individuals, plots of land, or experiences) is assigned to a treatment (treatment A), and the remainder of the population is assigned to the control treatment (treatment B). The difference in average outcome by treatment group is an estimate of the average effect of the treatment. However, motivating our study, the setting for modern experiments is often different, with the outcomes and treatment assignments indexed by multiple populations. For example, outcomes may be indexed by buyers and sellers, by content creators and subscribers, by drivers and riders, or by travelers and airlines and travel agents, with treatments potentially varying across these indices. Spillovers or interference can arise from interactions between units across populations. For example, sellers' behavior may depend on buyers' treatment assignment, or vice versa. This can invalidate the simple comparison of means as an estimator for the average effect of the treatment in classical RCTs. We propose new experiment designs for settings in which multiple populations interact. We show how these designs allow us to study questions about interference that cannot be answered by classical randomized experiments. Finally, we develop new statistical methods for analyzing these Multiple Randomization Designs.

Citation extraction

57
references
103
in-text mentions
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distinct cited
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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
1Johari, Ramesh and Li, Hannah and Liskovich, Inessa and Weintraub, G… (2022) Experimental design in two-sided platforms: An analysis of bias1.00073100%
2Bajari, Patrick and Burdick, Brian and Imbens, Guido and Masoero, Lo… (2023) Experimental Design in Marketplaces self1.00053100%
3Aronow, Peter M and Samii, Cyrus (2017) Estimating average causal effects under general interference, with application to a social network experiment0.84333100%
4Hudgens, Michael G and Halloran, M Elizabeth (2008) Toward causal inference with interference0.73732100%
5Li, Xinran and Ding, Peng (2017) General forms of finite population central limit theorems with applications to causal inference0.73732100%
6Shi, Lei and Ding, Peng (2022) Berry–Esseen bounds for design-based causal inference with possibly diverging treatment levels and varying group sizes0.73732100%
7Sudijono, Timothy and Lei, Lihua and Masoero, Lorenzo and Vijaykumar… (2025) Regression Adjustments for Double Randomization in Two-Sided Marketplaces self0.6443267%
8Bojinov, Iavor and Simchi-Levi, David and Zhao, Jinglong (2020) Design and analysis of switchback experiments0.64422100%
9Fisher, Ronald Aylmer (1937) The design of experiments0.64422100%
10Christopher Harshaw and Fredrik Sävje and David Eisenstat and Vahab… (2022) Design and analysis of bipartite experiments under a linear exposure-response model0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 57 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
11 Heterogeneous Treatment Effects for Networks, Panels, and other Outcome Matrices1.00093
2Reducing Marketplace Interference Bias Via Shadow Prices0.58531
3Treatment Allocation with Strategic Agents0.40511
4Network Synthetic Interventions: A Causal Framework for Panel Data Under Network Interference0.40511
5Causal Estimation of User Learning in Personalized Systems0.40511
6Identifying Socially Disruptive Policies0.40511
7Tackling Interference Induced by Data Training Loops in A/B Tests: A Weighted Training Approach0.40511
8ARMA-Design: Optimal Treatment Allocation Strategies for A/B Testing in Partially Observable Experiments0.40511
9Can We Validate Counterfactual Estimations in the Presence of General Network Interference?0.40511