arXiv AI
Sep 11

Incentives to Offer Algorithmic Recourse

The paper investigates why decision-makers such as banks and employers might provide algorithmic recourse to applicants rejected by automated systems. In a screening model where recourse improves an applicant’s value but costs vary across individuals, the optimal policy is a threshold rule: reject low‑scoring applicants, offer recourse to those with intermediate scores, and accept high‑scoring applicants outright. This strategy creates a new acceptance path for some marginal applicants while imposing a costly hurdle on others who would otherwise be accepted.

By Matthew Olckers, Toby Walsh
arXiv Machine Learning
Jul 31

The Role of Causality in Algorithmic Recourse

arXiv:2607. 28497v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Algorithmic recourse aims to provide individuals with actionable changes to improve their predicted outcomes in high-stakes classification settings, such as loan and mortgage applications.

By Srikanth Avasarala, Varun Gupta, Shahin Jabbari, Saber Salehkaleybar, Juba Ziani
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 14

Explanations-Driven Active Feature Acquisition for Algorithmic Recourse

The paper introduces Explanation-Driven Feature Acquisition (EDFA), a method that jointly optimizes algorithmic recourse and feature acquisition by selecting features based on explanatory value per unit cost. Using Markov Blanket theory, EDFA unifies various explanation types and provides distribution‑free validity guarantees for recourse derived from partial information. Experiments on seven datasets show that EDFA requires fewer features than existing active feature acquisition baselines while maintaining accuracy and producing more actionable recourse.

By Vinura Galwaduge, Jagath Samarabandu