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Ensemble Methods for Causal Effects in Panel Data Settings

Author

Listed:
  • Susan Athey
  • Mohsen Bayati
  • Guido Imbens
  • Zhaonan Qu

Abstract

In many prediction problems researchers have found that combinations of prediction methods ("ensembles") perform better than individual methods. In this paper we apply these ideas to synthetic control type problems in panel data. Here a number of conceptually quite different methods have been developed. We compare the predictive accuracy of three methods with an ensemble method and find that the latter dominates. These results show that ensemble methods are a practical and effective method for the type of data configurations typically encountered in empirical work in economics, and that these methods deserve more attention.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Athey & Mohsen Bayati & Guido Imbens & Zhaonan Qu, 2019. "Ensemble Methods for Causal Effects in Panel Data Settings," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 65-70, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:109:y:2019:p:65-70
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191069
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    Cited by:

    1. Fetzer, Thiemo & Wang, Shizhuo, 2020. "Measuring the Regional Economic Cost of Brexit: Evidence up to 2019," CEPR Discussion Papers 15051, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Mika Ylinen & Mikko Ranta, 2024. "Employer ratings in social media and firm performance: Evidence from an explainable machine learning approach," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 247-276, March.
    3. Daníelsson, Jón & Macrae, Robert & Uthemann, Andreas, 2022. "Artificial intelligence and systemic risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    4. Domenico Giannone & Michele Lenza & Giorgio E. Primiceri, 2021. "Economic Predictions With Big Data: The Illusion of Sparsity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(5), pages 2409-2437, September.
    5. Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, 2021. "Has machine learning rendered simple rules obsolete?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 251-265, December.
    6. Duarte, Victor & Duarte, Diogo & Fonseca, Julia & Montecinos, Alexis, 2020. "Benchmarking machine-learning software and hardware for quantitative economics," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    7. Sandro Heiniger, 2024. "Data-driven model selection within the matrix completion method for causal panel data models," Papers 2402.01069, arXiv.org.
    8. Lenza, Michele & Moutachaker, Inès & Paredes, Joan, 2025. "Density forecasts of inflation: A quantile regression forest approach," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    9. Gert Bijnens & Shyngys Karimov & Jozef Konings, 2023. "Does Automatic Wage Indexation Destroy Jobs? A Machine Learning Approach," De Economist, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 85-117, March.
    10. Shafiullah Qureshi & Ba Chu & Fanny S. Demers, 2021. "Forecasting Canadian GDP Growth with Machine Learning," Carleton Economic Papers 21-05, Carleton University, Department of Economics.
    11. Surender Kumar & Madhu Khanna, 2019. "Temperature and production efficiency growth: empirical evidence," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 209-229, September.
    12. Newell, Richard G. & Prest, Brian C. & Sexton, Steven E., 2021. "The GDP-Temperature relationship: Implications for climate change damages," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    13. Athey, Susan & Imbens, Guido W., 2019. "Machine Learning Methods Economists Should Know About," Research Papers 3776, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    14. Povilas Lastauskas & Julius Stakénas, 2019. "Does It Matter When Labor Market Reforms Are Implemented? The Role of the Monetary Policy Environment," CESifo Working Paper Series 7844, CESifo.
    15. Hoang, Daniel & Wiegratz, Kevin, 2022. "Machine learning methods in finance: Recent applications and prospects," Working Paper Series in Economics 158, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    16. Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde, 2020. "Simple Rules for a Complex World with Arti?cial Intelligence," PIER Working Paper Archive 20-010, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    17. Lastauskas, Povilas & Stakėnas, Julius, 2024. "Labor market policies in high- and low-interest rate environments: Evidence from the euro area," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    18. Cerqua, Augusto & Letta, Marco, 2022. "Local inequalities of the COVID-19 crisis," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    19. Rong J. B. Zhu, 2023. "Synthetic Regressing Control," Papers 2306.02584, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2026.
    20. Hollingsworth, Alex & Wing, Coady, 2020. "Tactics for design and inference in synthetic control studies: An applied example using high-dimensional data," SocArXiv fc9xt, Center for Open Science.
    21. Viviano, Davide & Bradic, Jelena, 2023. "Synthetic Learner: Model-free inference on treatments over time," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 234(2), pages 691-713.
    22. Cerqua, Augusto & Letta, Marco, 2020. "Local economies amidst the COVID-19 crisis in Italy: a tale of diverging trajectories," MPRA Paper 104404, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Gabriel Loumeau & Christian Stettler, 2021. "Fiscal Autonomy and Self-Determination," CESifo Working Paper Series 9445, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

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