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arXiv 2112.04580stat.ME
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二进制和连续处理的平均因果效应的广义定义

A generalized definition of the average causal effect for both binary and continuous treatments

Fernando Pires Hartwig

摘要:

因果推断的主要任务之一是估计定义良好的因果参数。其中一个主要的因果参数是平均因果效应(ACE)-目标人群中个体水平因果效应的预期值。对于二元治疗,个体水平的因果效应定义为潜在结果之间的对比。然而,对于连续的结果,在有限的样本中有许多这样的对比,从而阻碍了它们作为因果关系的有用总结的使用。在这里,我们提出了一个广义版本的ACE,其中个体水平的因果效应被定义为在个体具有的治疗值下评估的个体水平因果剂量反应函数的导数(相对于治疗)。该定义等同于二元治疗的常规定义,但也包含连续治疗。我们证明,这个数量可以在传统的因果假设下估计,并说明了模拟研究的理论思想。

英文摘要:

One of the main tasks of causal inference is estimating well-defined causal parameters. One of the main causal parameters is the average causal effect (ACE) - the expected value of the individual level causal effects in the target population. For binary treatments, the individual level causal effect is defined as contrast between potential outcomes. For continuous outcomes, however, there are many such contrasts in finite samples, thus hampering their use as a useful summary of the causal relationship. Here, we proposed a generalized version of the ACE, where individual level causal effects are defined as the derivative (with respect to the treatment) of the individual level causal dose-response function evaluated at treatment value that the individual has. This definition is equivalent to the conventional definition for binary treatments, but also incorporates continuous treatments. We demonstrate that this quantity can be estimated under conventional causal assumptions and illustrate the theoretical ideas with a simulation study.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

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