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Decision Theory for Treatment Choice Problems with Partial Identification

José Luis Montiel Olea, Chen Qiu, Jörg Stoye

arXiv 29 Dec 2023 · Econometrics · 1 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2312.17623 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

We apply classical statistical decision theory to a large class of treatment choice problems with partial identification. We show that, in a general class of problems with Gaussian likelihood, all decision rules are admissible; it is maximin-welfare optimal to ignore all data; and, for severe enough partial identification, there are infinitely many minimax-regret optimal decision rules, all of which sometimes randomize the policy recommendation. We uniquely characterize the minimax-regret optimal rule that least frequently randomizes, and show that, in some cases, it can outperform other minimax-regret optimal rules in terms of what we term profiled regret. We analyze the implications of our results in the aggregation of experimental estimates for policy adoption, extrapolation of Local Average Treatment Effects, and policy making in the presence of omitted variable bias.

Citation extraction

77
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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
1Ishihara, T. and T. Kitagawa (2021) Evidence Aggregation for Treatment Choice, ArXiv:2108.06473 [econ.EM], https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2108.064731.000163100%
2Christensen, T., H. R. Moon, and F. Schorfheide (2022) Optimal Discrete Decisions when Payoffs are Partially Identified1.00053100%
3Tetenov, A (2012) Statistical treatment choice based on asymmetric minimax regret criteria0.92843100%
4Yata, K (2023) Optimal Decision Rules Under Partial Identification, ArXiv:2111.04926 [econ.EM], https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2111.049260.874132100%
5Diegert, P., M. A. Masten, and A. Poirier (2022) Assessing omitted variable bias when the controls are endogenous0.87472100%
6Manski, C. F (2004) Statistical treatment rules for heterogeneous populations0.87462100%
7Stoye, J (2012) a): Minimax regret treatment choice with covariates or with limited validity of experiments self0.84310560%
8Hirano, K. and J. R. Porter (2009) Asymptotics for statistical treatment rules0.81142100%
9Wald, A (1950) Statistical Decision Functions0.81142100%
10Mogstad, M. and A. Torgovitsky (2018) Identification and extrapolation of causal effects with instrumental variables0.81142100%

Showing the top 10 of 77 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 Bayes Treatment Choice with Partial Identification0.935225
2Statistical Decisions and Partial Identification: With Application to Boundary Discontinuity Design0.87452
3Optimal Decision Rules Under Partial Identification0.84344
4Leave No One Undermined: Policy Targeting with Regret Aversion0.51121
5Epsilon-Minimax Solutions of Statistical Decision Problems0.51121
6Geometric Control of Decisions' Affordability0.51121
7Debiased Machine Learning of Aggregated Intersection Bounds and Other Causal Parameters0.40511
8Policy Learning with Confidence$^$0.40511
9Optimal treatment assignment rules under capacity constraints0.40511
10Inference on Optimal Policy Values and Other Irregular Functionals via Softmax Smoothing0.40511