EconBase
← All papers

Covariate Balancing and the Equivalence of Weighting and Doubly Robust Estimators of Average Treatment Effects

Tymon Słoczyński, S. Derya Uysal, Jeffrey M. Wooldridge

arXiv 28 Oct 2023 · Econometrics · 3 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2310.18563 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

How should researchers adjust for covariates? We show that if the propensity score is estimated using a specific covariate balancing approach, inverse probability weighting (IPW), augmented inverse probability weighting (AIPW), and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) estimators are numerically equivalent for the average treatment effect (ATE), and likewise for the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT). The resulting weights are inherently normalized, making normalized and unnormalized IPW and AIPW identical. We discuss implications for instrumental variables and difference-in-differences estimators and illustrate with two applications how these numerical equivalences simplify analysis and interpretation.

Citation extraction

46
references
139
in-text mentions
46
distinct cited
5
self-citations
8,326
main-text words

appendix boundary found by appendix_titled_section at “Appendix” · 93% 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
1Sant'Anna and Zhao (2020) Doubly Robust Difference-in-Differences Estimators1.000244100%
2Egel, Graham, and Pinto (2008) Inverse Probability Tilting and Missing Data Problems1.000104100%
3Graham, Pinto, and Egel (2012) Inverse Probability Tilting for Moment Condition Models with Missing Data1.00084100%
4Imai and Ratkovic (2014) Covariate Balancing Propensity Score1.00083100%
5Graham, Pinto, and Egel (2016) Efficient Estimation of Data Combination Models by the Method of Auxiliary-to-Study Tilting (AST)1.00073100%
6Hainmueller (2012) Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies1.00063100%
7Aizer, Eli, Ferrie, and Lleras-Muney (2016) The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families0.87492100%
8LaLonde (1986) Evaluating the Econometric Evaluations of Training Programs with Experimental Data0.87462100%
9Callaway and Sant'Anna (2021) Difference-in-Differences with Multiple Time Periods0.87452100%
10Soczyński (2022) Interpreting OLS Estimands When Treatment Effects Are Heterogeneous: Smaller Groups Get Larger Weights0.87452100%

Showing the top 10 of 46 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
1Potential weights and implicit causal designs in linear regression0.40511