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Robust Bayes Treatment Choice with Partial Identification

Andrés Aradillas Fernández, José Luis Montiel Olea, Chen Qiu, Jörg Stoye, Serdil Tinda

arXiv 21 Aug 2024 · Econometrics · 1 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2408.11621 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

We study a class of binary treatment choice problems with partial identification, through the lens of robust (multiple prior) Bayesian analysis. We use a convenient set of prior distributions to derive ex-ante and ex-post robust Bayes decision rules, both for decision makers who can randomize and for decision makers who cannot. Our main messages are as follows: First, ex-ante and ex-post robust Bayes decision rules do not tend to agree in general, whether or not randomized rules are allowed. Second, randomized treatment assignment for some data realizations can be optimal in both ex-ante and, perhaps more surprisingly, ex-post problems. Therefore, it is usually with loss of generality to exclude randomized rules from consideration, even when regret is evaluated ex-post. We apply our results to a stylized problem where a policy maker uses experimental data to choose whether to implement a new policy in a population of interest, but is concerned about the external validity of the experiment at hand (Stoye, 2012); and to the aggregation of data generated by multiple randomized control trials in different sites to make a policy choice in a population for which no experimental data are available (Manski, 2020; Ishihara and Kitagawa, 2021).

Citation extraction

70
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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
1Takuya Ishihara and Toru Kitagawa (2021) Evidence Aggregation for Treatment Choice1.00084100%
2Stoye, Jörg (2012) Minimax regret treatment choice with covariates or with limited validity of experiments self1.00074100%
3Kohei Yata (2021) Optimal Decision Rules Under Partial Identification1.00074100%
4Giacomini, Raffaella and Kitagawa, Toru (2021) Robust Bayesian Inference for Set-Identified Models1.00073100%
5Montiel Olea, José Luis and Qiu, Chen and Stoye, Jörg (2025) Decision Theory for Treatment Choice Problems with Partial Identification self0.93522582%
6Christensen, Timothy and Moon, Hyungsik Roger and Schorfheide, Frank (2022) Optimal Discrete Decisions when Payoffs are Partially Identified0.87462100%
7Giacomini, R. and T. Kitagawa and M. Read (2021) Robust Bayesian Analysis for Econometrics0.87452100%
8Berger, J.O (1985) Statistical Decision Theory and Bayesian Analysis0.87452100%
9Aradillas Fernández, Andrés and Blanchet, José and Montiel Olea, Jos… (2025) $ $-Minimax Solutions of Statistical Decision Problems self0.7373367%
10Guggenberger, Patrik and Huang, Jiaqi (2025) On the numerical approximation of minimax regret rules via fictitious play0.7373367%

Showing the top 10 of 71 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
1Optimal treatment assignment rules under capacity constraints0.64422
2Epsilon-Minimax Solutions of Statistical Decision Problems0.58531
3Dynamically Consistent Statistical Decisions0.51121
4Optimal Decision Rules when Payoffs are Partially Identified0.40511
5Robust Network Targeting with Multiple Nash Equilibria0.40511
6Counting Defiers: A Design-Based Model of an Experiment Can Reveal Evidence Beyond the Average Effect0.40511
7Statistical Decisions and Partial Identification: With Application to Boundary Discontinuity Design0.40511