The paper tackles the problem of estimating causal effects when an unobserved confounder is present. It assumes a single, possibly multi‑dimensional proxy variable for the confounder and knowledge of the mechanism that generates this proxy. Under the Single Proxy Identifiability of Causal Effects (SPICE) assumption, the authors prove that the error mechanism is complete and causal effects are identifiable, extending prior proxy‑based results to continuous, multi‑dimensional settings and more flexible functional forms. They also introduce SPICE‑Net, a neural‑network‑based framework for estimating causal effects applicable to both discrete and continuous treatments.
By Silvan Vollmer, Niklas Pfister, Sebastian Weichwald
arXiv:2609.40051v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Estimating causal effects from observational data is central to science and policy, but the effects are not identified when confounders are unmeasured....
By Yonghan Jung
arXiv:2609.17238v1 Announce Type: cross
Abstract: High-dimensional data create challenges for causal effect estimation because identifying the covariates needed for correct model specification become...
By Muwon Kwon, Peter M. Steiner
The paper introduces new one‑step and targeted minimum loss‑based estimators for the average treatment effect and the average treatment effect on the treated under the front‑door criterion. These estimators use multiple parameterizations of the observed data distribution, can avoid modeling the mediator density, and are compatible with flexible machine‑learning nuisance estimation. The authors derive conditions for root‑n consistency, asymptotic linearity, and develop doubly robust tests for identification assumptions, demonstrating improved efficiency and favorable performance in simulations and real‑world applications in education and emergency medicine.
By Anna Guo, David Benkeser, Razieh Nabi
arXiv:2609.00071v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Prediction error is widely used to evaluate nuisance-function estimators in causal inference, but its relationship with causal estimator performance ma...
By Cong Cao
arXiv:2605. 13430v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Selection bias is pervasive in observational studies.
By Yiwen Qiu, Filip Kova\v{c}evi\'c, Shimeng Huang, Peter Spirtes, Francesco Locatello
arXiv:2602. 22083v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Causal identification functionals often require integration over conditional densities of continuous variables, such as those arising in nonparametric identification theory of total and mediated causal effects in DAGs with hidden variables.
By Xiaxian Ou, Razieh Nabi
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:2609.22383v1 Announce Type: cross
Abstract: Instrumental variable (IV) methods address treatment endogeneity, but with non-compliance and heterogeneous treatment effects a binary instrument gen...
By Zixuan Yao, Guosheng Yin
The paper introduces a causal inference method for treatment effect models where confounders are measured noisily. It leverages many noisy proxies linked to latent confounders through an unknown, possibly nonlinear factor structure, using a local principal subspace approximation that combines K‑nearest‑neighbor matching and principal component analysis. The authors construct doubly‑robust estimators for various causal parameters, establish their large‑sample properties, and provide uniformly consistent estimators of the conditional average treatment effect, illustrated with an empirical study on political connections and stock returns and a Monte Carlo experiment.
By Yingjie Feng
arXiv:2609.06294v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Estimating conditional average treatment effects (CATE) enables efficient targeting of interventions, but many applications have limited experimental s...
By Maitreyi Swaroop, Shikha Bhat, Samantha Rodriguez, Tamar Krishnamurti, Bryan Wilder
arXiv:2604. 23904v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Synthetic tabular data are often evaluated by distributional similarity, privacy distance, or train-on-synthetic-test-on-real predictive performance, but these criteria do not ensure validity for causal inference.
By Yichen Xu