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Debiased Machine Learning when Nuisance Parameters Appear in Indicator Functions

Gyungbae Park

arXiv 23 Mar 2024 · Econometrics

arXiv:2403.15934 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

This paper studies debiased machine learning when nuisance parameters appear in indicator functions. An important example is maximized average welfare gain under optimal treatment assignment rules. For asymptotically valid inference for a parameter of interest, the current literature on debiased machine learning relies on Gateaux differentiability of the functions inside moment conditions, which does not hold when nuisance parameters appear in indicator functions. In this paper, we propose smoothing the indicator functions, and develop an asymptotic distribution theory for this class of models. The asymptotic behavior of the proposed estimator exhibits a trade-off between bias and variance due to smoothing. We study how a parameter which controls the degree of smoothing can be chosen optimally to minimize an upper bound of the asymptotic mean squared error. A Monte Carlo simulation supports the asymptotic distribution theory, and an empirical example illustrates the implementation of the method.

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41
references
121
in-text mentions
41
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
1Kitagawa, T. and Tetenov, A (2018) Who should be treated? empirical welfare maximization methods for treatment choice1.000103100%
2Chernozhukov, V., Chetverikov, D., Demirer, M., Duflo, E., Hansen, C… (2018) Double/debiased machine learning for treatment and structural parameters0.8746467%
3Armstrong, T. B. and Kolesár, M (2020) Simple and honest confidence intervals in nonparametric regression0.87452100%
4Chernozhukov, V., Chetverikov, D., Demirer, M., Duflo, E., Hansen, C… (2017) Double/debiased/neyman machine learning of treatment effects0.8434375%
5Semenova, V. and Chernozhukov, V (2020) Debiased machine learning of conditional average treatment effects and other causal functions0.84333100%
6Chernozhukov, V., Newey, W. K., and Singh, R (2022) Automatic debiased machine learning of causal and structural effects0.80233652%
7Levis, A. W., Bonvini, M., Zeng, Z., Keele, L., and Kennedy, E. H (2023) Covariate-assisted bounds on causal effects with instrumental variables0.73732100%
8Chernozhukov, V., Escanciano, J. C., Ichimura, H., Newey, W. K., and… (2022) Locally robust semiparametric estimation0.69312433%
9Chernozhukov, V., Hansen, C., Kallus, N., Spindler, M., and Syrgkani… (2024) Applied causal inference powered by ml and ai0.64422100%
10Hirano, K. and Porter, J. R (2012) Impossibility results for nondifferentiable functionals0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 41 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
1Nonparametric Uniform Inference in Binary Classification and Policy Values0.64422
2Inference for an Algorithmic Fairness-Accuracy Frontier0.40511
3Inference on Optimal Policy Values and Other Irregular Functionals via Softmax Smoothing0.40511
4Inference on Welfare and Value Functionals under Optimal Treatment Assignment0.40511