arXiv Machine Learning

Environment-Adaptive Covariate Selection: Learning When to Use Spurious Correlations for Out-of-Distribution Prediction

arXiv:2601. 02322v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: A common approach to out-of-distribution prediction restricts models to causal or invariant covariates to avoid spurious associations that may change across environments.

arXiv Machine Learning
Jun 18

Anti-causal domain generalization: Leveraging unlabeled data

arXiv:2602. 17187v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: The problem of domain generalization concerns learning predictive models that are robust to distribution shifts when deployed in new, previously unseen environments.

By Sorawit Saengkyongam, Juan L. Gamella, Andrew C. Miller, Jonas Peters, Nicolai Meinshausen, Christina Heinze-Deml
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 23

Concept Drift from a Causal Perspective

The paper introduces a causal framework for concept drift, using Structural Causal Models to classify drift events by their causal origin—exogenous variables, endogenous mechanisms, confounders, and target-generating processes. It presents an SCM-based data stream generator that simulates controlled mechanism-level drift, and empirically shows that different causal origins produce distinct distribution shifts and predictive behaviors. By integrating causal discovery, the authors create realistic data streams that improve downstream performance and provide a foundation for causally-aware evaluation in non‑stationary settings.

By Eduardo V. L. Barboza, Jean Paul Barddal, Robert Sabourin, Rafael M. O. Cruz
arXiv Statistics ML
Aug 25

Model-Agnostic Covariate-Assisted Inference on Partially Identified Causal Effects

The paper introduces a model‑agnostic inference framework for partially identified causal effects that leverages covariate information without requiring discrete covariates or accurate conditional distribution estimates. Using duality theory for optimal transport, the method delivers uniformly valid inference in randomized experiments, is doubly robust in observational settings, achieves asymptotic unbiasedness when nuisance parameters converge semiparametrically, and allows multiplier‑bootstrap selection of covariates and models while remaining computationally efficient. Empirical applications show the approach consistently narrows identified sets and confidence intervals without imposing extra structural assumptions.

By Wenlong Ji, Lihua Lei, Asher Spector
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 22

Causal Inference with Unobserved Confounding: A Mixture Learning Perspective

The paper introduces a mixture‑learning framework for causal inference with unobserved confounding, treating latent confounders as sources of heterogeneity that create mixture structures in observed data. By assuming suitable structural and identifiability conditions, it shows that recovering the mixing distribution and component mechanisms allows estimation of interventional distributions and causal estimands. The authors illustrate the approach with Bernoulli mixture examples, extend it to high‑dimensional exponential‑family mixtures with dependent outcomes, and relate it to panel‑data settings, latent factor models, and synthetic interventions.

By Mansi Sood, Devavrat Shah
arXiv AI
Jul 14

CDFM: Towards a General-Purpose Causal Discovery Foundation Model

arXiv:2607. 11508v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Causal discovery, the process of recovering underlying causal structures from observational data, is a fundamental pursuit across scientific disciplines.

By Jie Qiao, Ruichu Cai, Zijian Li, Weilin Chen, Pengfei Hua, Boyan Xu, Zhengming Chen, Zhifeng Hao, Peng Cui