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Treatment Effect Estimators as Weighted Outcomes

Michael C. Knaus

arXiv 18 Nov 2024 · Econometrics

arXiv:2411.11559 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

Estimators that weight observed outcomes to form effect estimates have a long tradition. Their outcome weights are widely used in established procedures, such as checking covariate balance, characterizing target populations, or detecting and managing extreme weights. This paper introduces a general framework for deriving such outcome weights. It establishes when and how numerical equivalence between an original estimator representation as moment condition and a unique weighted representation can be obtained. The framework is applied to derive novel outcome weights for the six seminal instances of double machine learning and generalized random forests, while recovering existing results for other estimators as special cases. The analysis highlights that implementation choices determine (i) the availability of outcome weights and (ii) their properties. Notably, standard implementations of partially linear regression-based estimators, like causal forests, employ outcome weights that do not sum to (minus) one in the (un)treated group, not fulfilling a property often considered desirable.

Citation extraction

61
references
110
in-text mentions
61
distinct cited
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main-text words

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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
1Soczynski2024AbadiesEffect APACrefauthors Soczyński, T. , Uysal, S D… (2024) 20240.9209378%
2Chernozhukov2018 APACrefauthors Chernozhukov, V. , Chetverikov, D. ,… (2018) 20180.87462100%
3Athey2017a APACrefauthors Athey, S. , Tibshirani, J. \ Wager, S. APA… (2019) 20190.87452100%
4Chernozhukov2016High-DimensionalR APACrefauthors Chernozhukov, V. ,… 20160.8434375%
5Abadie2003SemiparametricModels APACrefauthors Abadie, A. APACrefauth… (2003) 20030.8435360%
6Chattopadhyay2023OnInference APACrefauthors Chattopadhyay, A. \ Zubi… (2023) 20230.7817271%
7Curth2024WhySmoothers APACrefauthors Curth, A. , Jeffares, A. \ van… (2024) 20240.7373367%
8Imbens2015CausalSciences APACrefauthors Imbens, G W. \ Rubin, D B. A… (2015) 20150.7373367%
9Tan2006RegressionVariables APACrefauthors Tan, Z. APACrefauthors \ 2006120.64441100%
10Imai2014CovariateScore APACrefauthors Imai, K. \ Ratkovic, M. APACre… (2014) 20140.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 61 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
12509.171800.64422
2Covariate Balancing and the Equivalence of Weighting and Doubly Robust Estimators of Average Treatment Effects0.40511