scholarly journals Bootstrap bias correction for average treatment effects with inverse propensity weights

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-200
Author(s):  
GUBHINDER KUNDHI ◽  
MARCEL VOIA

The estimated average treatment effect in observational studies is biased if the assumptions of ignorability and overlap are not satisfied. To deal with this potential problem when propensity score weights are used in the estimation of the treatment effects, in this paper we propose a bootstrap bias correction estimator for the average treatment effect (ATE) obtained with the inverse propensity score (BBC-IPS) estimator. We show in simulations that the BBC-IPC performs well when we have misspecifications of the propensity score (PS) due to: omitted variables (ignorability property may not be satisfied), overlap (imbalances in distribution between treatment and control groups) and confounding effects between observables and unobservables (endogeneity). Further refinements in bias reductions of the ATE estimates in smaller samples are attained by iterating the BBC-IPS estimator.

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-189
Author(s):  
XIAOTIAN GAO ◽  
XINXIN DONG ◽  
CHAERYON KANG KANG ◽  
ABDUS S. WAHED

The estimated average treatment effect in observational studies is biased if the assumptions of ignorability and overlap are not satisfied. To deal with this potential problem when propensity score weights are used in the estimation of the treatment effects, in this paper we propose a bootstrap bias correction estimator for the average treatment effect (ATE) obtained with the inverse propensity score (BBC-IPS) estimator. We show in simulations that the BBC-IPC performs well when we have misspecifications of the propensity score (PS) due to: omitted variables (ignorability property may not be satisfied), overlap (imbalances in distribution between treatment and control groups) and confounding effects between observables and unobservables (endogeneity). Further refinements in bias reductions of the ATE estimates in smaller samples are attained by iterating the BBC-IPS estimator.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateus C. R. Neves ◽  
Felipe De Figueiredo Silva ◽  
Carlos Otávio Freitas

In this paper we estimate the average treatment effect from access to extension services and credit on agricultural production in selected Andean countries (Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia). More specifically, we want to identify the effect of accessibility, here represented as travel time to the nearest area with 1,500 or more inhabitants per square kilometer or at least 50,000 inhabitants, on the likelihood of accessing extension and credit. To estimate the treatment effect and identify the effect of accessibility on these variables, we use data from the Colombian and Bolivian Agricultural Censuses of 2013 and 2014, respectively; a national agricultural survey from 2017 for Peru; and geographic information on travel time. We find that the average treatment effect for extension is higher compared to that of credit for farms in Bolivia and Peru, and lower for Colombia. The average treatment effects of extension and credit for Peruvian farms are $2,387.45 and $3,583.42 respectively. The average treatment effect for extension and credit are $941.92 and $668.69, respectively, while in Colombia are $1,365.98 and $1,192.51, respectively. We also find that accessibility and the likelihood of accessing these services are nonlinearly related. Results indicate that higher likelihood is associated with lower travel time, especially in the analysis of credit.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 3623-3640
Author(s):  
John A Craycroft ◽  
Jiapeng Huang ◽  
Maiying Kong

Propensity score methods are commonly used in statistical analyses of observational data to reduce the impact of confounding bias in estimations of average treatment effect. While the propensity score is defined as the conditional probability of a subject being in the treatment group given that subject’s covariates, the most precise estimation of average treatment effect results from specifying the propensity score as a function of true confounders and predictors only. This property has been demonstrated via simulation in multiple prior research articles. However, we have seen no theoretical explanation as to why this should be so. This paper provides that theoretical proof. Furthermore, this paper presents a method for performing the necessary variable selection by means of elastic net regression, and then estimating the propensity scores so as to obtain optimal estimates of average treatment effect. The proposed method is compared against two other recently introduced methods, outcome-adaptive lasso and covariate balancing propensity score. Extensive simulation analyses are employed to determine the circumstances under which each method appears most effective. We applied the proposed methods to examine the effect of pre-cardiac surgery coagulation indicator on mortality based on a linked dataset from a retrospective review of 1390 patient medical records at Jewish Hospital (Louisville, KY) with the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-43
Author(s):  
Christopher Wright ◽  
John M. Halstead ◽  
Ju-Chin Huang

Propensity score matching is used to estimate treatment effects when data are observational. Results presented in this study demonstrate the use of propensity score matching to evaluate the average treatment effect of unit-based pricing of household trash for reducing municipal solid waste disposal. Average treatment effect of the treated for 34 New Hampshire communities range from an annual reduction of 631 pounds per household to 823 pounds per household. This represents an annual reduction of 42 percent to 54 percent from an average of 1530 pounds per household if a town did not adopt municipal solid waste user fees.


Author(s):  
Graham K. Brown ◽  
Thanos Mergoupis

Treatment effects may vary with the observed characteristics of the treated, often with important implications. In the context of experimental data, a growing literature deals with the problem of specifying treatment interaction terms that most effectively capture this variation. Some results of this literature are now implemented in Stata. With nonexperimental (observational) data, and in particular when selection into treatment depends on unmeasured factors, treatment effects can be estimated using Stata's treatreg command. Though not originally designed for this purpose, treatreg can be used to consistently estimate treatment interaction parameters. With interactions, however, adjustments are required to generate predicted values and estimate the average treatment effect. In this article, we introduce commands that perform this adjustment for multiplicative interactions, and we show the required adjustment for more complicated interactions.


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