arXiv:2410.05177stat.MLcs.LG2024-10

考虑不确定性与预测改善,提升多疗法推荐的决策效果

Are causal effect estimations enough for optimal recommendations under multitreatment scenarios?

  • 引入条件风险价值和预测准则,优化治疗选择标准
  • 在信用卡额度调整中,新方法使政策表现显著优于仅用反事实预测
  • 适用于需兼顾效果与风险的金融、医疗等多干预场景

在多疗法决策中,仅估计个体处理效应不足以实现真正最优。本文通过引入额外标准(如基于条件风险价值的不确定性度量)和预测准则(要求治疗后结果优于治疗前),构建了综合决策方法。针对可观察治疗前后连续结果的情形,提出先训练倾向得分模型以满足重叠假设,再使用传统因果模型的流程。在某金融科技公司历史数据上的应用表明,仅依赖反事实预测的策略无法有效调整信用额度;而结合本文提出标准后,政策性能显著提升。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

When making treatment selection decisions, it is essential to include a causal effect estimation analysis to compare potential outcomes under different treatments or controls, assisting in optimal selection. However, merely estimating individual treatment effects may not suffice for truly optimal decisions. Our study addressed this issue by incorporating additional criteria, such as the estimations' uncertainty, measured by the conditional value-at-risk, commonly used in portfolio and insurance management. For continuous outcomes observable before and after treatment, we incorporated a specific prediction condition. We prioritized treatments that could yield optimal treatment effect results and lead to post-treatment outcomes more desirable than pretreatment levels, with the latter condition being called the prediction criterion. With these considerations, we propose a comprehensive methodology for multitreatment selection. Our approach ensures satisfaction of the overlap assumption, crucial for comparing outcomes for treated and control groups, by training propensity score models as a preliminary step before employing traditional causal models. To illustrate a practical application of our methodology, we applied it to the credit card limit adjustment problem. Analyzing a fintech company's historical data, we found that relying solely on counterfactual predictions was inadequate for appropriate credit line modifications. Incorporating our proposed additional criteria significantly enhanced policy performance.

因果推断推荐系统多疗法决策

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