Rebar: Reinforcing a Matching Estimator with Predictions from High-Dimensional Covariates

Autor: Sales, Adam C, Hansen, Ben B, Rowan, Brian
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 43(1), 3-31
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.3102/1076998617731518
Popis: In causal matching designs, some control subjects are often left unmatched, and some covariates are often left unmodeled. This article introduces "rebar," a method using high-dimensional modeling to incorporate these commonly discarded data without sacrificing the integrity of the matching design. After constructing a match, a researcher uses the unmatched control subjects--the remnant--to fit a machine learning model predicting control potential outcomes as a function of the full covariate matrix. The resulting predictions in the matched set are used to adjust the causal estimate to reduce confounding bias. We present theoretical results to justify the method's bias-reducing properties as well as a simulation study that demonstrates them. Additionally, we illustrate the method in an evaluation of a school-level comprehensive educational reform program in Arizona.
Comment: Published in Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics (Currently 12/6/17 "Online First")
Databáze: arXiv