Dear Applied Statistics Workshop Community,
Our next meeting will be on September 13 (12:00 EST). Davide Viviano presents "Policy Targeting under Network Interference."
<When>
September 13, 12:00 to 1:30 PM, EST
Lunch will be available for pick-up at 11:30 (CGIS K354).
<Where>
In-person: CGIS K354
Zoom:
https://harvard.zoom.us/j/93217566507?pwd=elBwYjRJcWhlVE5teE1VNDZoUXdjQT09
<Abstract>
Abstract: This paper studies the problem of optimally allocating treatments in the presence of spillover effects, using information from a (quasi-)experiment. I introduce a method that maximizes the sample analog of average social welfare when spillovers occur. I construct semi-parametric welfare estimators with known and unknown propensity scores and cast the optimization problem into a mixed-integer linear program, which can be solved using off-the-shelf algorithms. I derive a strong set of guarantees on regret, i.e., the difference between the maximum attainable welfare and the welfare evaluated at the estimated policy. The proposed method presents attractive features for applications: (i) it does not require network information of the target population; (ii) it exploits heterogeneity in treatment effects for targeting individuals; (iii) it does not rely on the correct specification of a particular structural model; and (iv) it accommodates constraints on the policy function. An application for targeting information on social networks illustrates the advantages of the method.
Paper: https://dviviano.github.io/projects/main_text_NEWM_Jan2023.pdf
<2023 Schedule>
GOV 3009 Website:
https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/applied.stats.workshop-gov3009
Calendar:
Best,
Jialu