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Estimating Distributional Treatment Effects in Randomized Experiments: Machine Learning for Variance Reduction

Undral Byambadalai, Tatsushi Oka, Shota Yasui

arXiv 22 Jul 2024 · Econometrics · 2 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2407.16037 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

We propose a novel regression adjustment method designed for estimating distributional treatment effect parameters in randomized experiments. Randomized experiments have been extensively used to estimate treatment effects in various scientific fields. However, to gain deeper insights, it is essential to estimate distributional treatment effects rather than relying solely on average effects. Our approach incorporates pre-treatment covariates into a distributional regression framework, utilizing machine learning techniques to improve the precision of distributional treatment effect estimators. The proposed approach can be readily implemented with off-the-shelf machine learning methods and remains valid as long as the nuisance components are reasonably well estimated. Also, we establish the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimator and present a uniformly valid inference method. Through simulation results and real data analysis, we demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating machine learning techniques in reducing the variance of distributional treatment effect estimators in finite samples.

Citation extraction

84
references
109
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
1Chernozhukov, V., Chetverikov, D., Demirer, M., Duflo, E., Hansen, C… (2018) Double/debiased machine learning for treatment and structural parameters1.00063100%
2List, J. A., Muir, I., and Sun, G. K (2022) Using machine learning for efficient flexible regression adjustment in economic experiments0.84333100%
3Chernozhukov, V., Fernández-Val, I., and Melly, B (2013) Inference on counterfactual distributions0.7373367%
4Ferraro, P. J. and Price, M. K (2013) Using nonpecuniary strategies to influence behavior: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment0.6443267%
5Chernozhukov, V., Escanciano, J. C., Ichimura, H., Newey, W. K., and… (2022) Locally robust semiparametric estimation0.64422100%
6Heckman, J. J., Smith, J., and Clements, N (1997) Making the most out of programme evaluations and social experiments: Accounting for heterogeneity in programme impacts0.64422100%
7Ichimura, H. and Newey, W. K (2022) The influence function of semiparametric estimators0.64422100%
8Imbens, G. W. and Rubin, D. B (2015) Causal inference in statistics, social, and biomedical sciences0.64422100%
9Neyman, J (1959) Optimal asymptotic tests of composite hypotheses0.64422100%
10Robins, J. M. and Rotnitzky, A (1995) Semiparametric efficiency in multivariate regression models with missing data0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 84 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
1Efficient and Scalable Estimation of Distributional Treatment Effects with Multi-Task Neural Networks0.51122
2On Efficient Estimation of Distributional Treatment Effects under Covariate-Adaptive Randomization0.40511
3Beyond the Average: Distributional Causal Inference under Imperfect Compliance0.40511
4Modeling Covariate Transition for Efficient Estimation of Longitudinal Treatment Effects in Randomized Experiments0.40511