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Nonparametric estimation of conditional densities by generalized random forests

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  • Federico Zincenko

Abstract

Considering a continuous random variable Y together with a continuous random vector X, I propose a nonparametric estimator f^(.|x) for the conditional density of Y given X=x. This estimator takes the form of an exponential series whose coefficients T = (T1,...,TJ) are the solution of a system of nonlinear equations that depends on an estimator of the conditional expectation E[p(Y)|X=x], where p(.) is a J-dimensional vector of basis functions. A key feature is that E[p(Y)|X=x] is estimated by generalized random forest (Athey, Tibshirani, and Wager, 2019), targeting the heterogeneity of T across x. I show that f^(.|x) is uniformly consistent and asymptotically normal, while allowing J to grow to infinity. I also provide a standard error formula to construct asymptotically valid confidence intervals. Results from Monte Carlo experiments and an empirical illustration are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Zincenko, 2023. "Nonparametric estimation of conditional densities by generalized random forests," Papers 2309.13251, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2024.
  • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2309.13251
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Stefan Wager & Susan Athey, 2018. "Estimation and Inference of Heterogeneous Treatment Effects using Random Forests," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 113(523), pages 1228-1242, July.
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