Regularization and Confounding in Linear Regression for Treatment Effect Estimation

被引:46
作者
Hahn, P. Richard [1 ]
Carvalho, Carlos M. [2 ]
Puelz, David [2 ]
He, Jingyu [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Chicago, Booth Sch Business, 5807 South Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 USA
[2] Univ Texas Austin, McCombs Sch Business, 2110 Speedway Stop, Austin, TX 78712 USA
来源
BAYESIAN ANALYSIS | 2018年 / 13卷 / 01期
关键词
causal inference; observational data; shrinkage estimation; PROPENSITY SCORE; VARIABLE SELECTION; UNCERTAINTY; OUTCOMES;
D O I
10.1214/16-BA1044
中图分类号
O1 [数学];
学科分类号
0701 ; 070101 ;
摘要
This paper investigates the use of regularization priors in the context of treatment effect estimation using observational data where the number of control variables is large relative to the number of observations. First, the phenomenon of "regularization-induced confounding" is introduced, which refers to the tendency of regularization priors to adversely bias treatment effect estimates by over-shrinking control variable regression coefficients. Then, a simultaneous regression model is presented which permits regularization priors to be specified in a way that avoids this unintentional "re-confounding". The new model is illustrated on synthetic and empirical data.
引用
收藏
页码:163 / 182
页数:20
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