arXiv:2510.04114cs.LG2025-10

用瓦瑟斯坦距离检测回归模型的公平性,发现性别与污染区间的不公差异。

Wasserstein projection distance for fairness testing of regression models

  • 基于瓦瑟斯坦投影距离构建回归模型公平性检验方法
  • 在真实数据中发现学生表现与房价数据存在显著不公平现象
  • 适用于关注公平性的研究人员及政策制定者

公平性测试用于评估模型在不同群体间是否满足特定公平准则,但现有研究多集中于分类模型,对回归模型关注不足。本文提出针对回归模型的公平性测试框架,利用瓦瑟斯坦距离进行数据分布投影,聚焦期望层面的公平准则。通过分类回归公平准则,从对偶重构推导出瓦瑟斯坦投影检验统计量,并获得渐近界与极限分布,从而建立假设检验流程与最优数据扰动方法,在提升公平性的同时保持准确性。合成数据实验表明,该方法相比置换检验具有更高特异性。在两个真实案例研究中,结果揭示:(1) 多个模型下学生成绩数据存在显著性别差异;(2) 房价数据在多个公平准则下表现出显著区域不公平性,且对不同分组方式稳健,特征级分析识别出空间与社会经济驱动因素。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Fairness testing evaluates whether a model satisfies a specified fairness criterion across different groups, yet most research has focused on classification models, leaving regression models underexplored. This paper introduces a framework for fairness testing in regression models, leveraging Wasserstein distance to project data distribution and focusing on expectation-based criteria. Upon categorizing fairness criteria for regression, we derive a Wasserstein projection test statistic from dual reformulation, and derive asymptotic bounds and limiting distributions, allowing us to formulate both a hypothesis-testing procedure and an optimal data perturbation method to improve fairness while balancing accuracy. Experiments on synthetic data demonstrate that the proposed hypothesis-testing approach offers higher specificity compared to permutation-based tests. To illustrate its potential applications, we apply our framework to two case studies on real data, showing (1) statistically significant gender disparities that appear on student performance data across multiple models, and (2) significant unfairness between pollution areas under multiple fairness criteria affecting housing price data, robust to different group divisions, with feature-level analysis identifying spatial and socioeconomic drivers.

公平性测试回归模型瓦瑟斯坦距离数据公平

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