A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder Continuity

Estimating heterogeneous treatment effects plays a vital role in many statistical applications, such as precision medicine and precision marketing. In this paper, we propose a novel meta-learner, termed RXlearner for estimating the conditional average treatment effect (CATE) within the general frame...

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Main Authors: Zhihao Zhao, Congyang Zhou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Mathematics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/11/1739
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author Zhihao Zhao
Congyang Zhou
author_facet Zhihao Zhao
Congyang Zhou
author_sort Zhihao Zhao
collection DOAJ
description Estimating heterogeneous treatment effects plays a vital role in many statistical applications, such as precision medicine and precision marketing. In this paper, we propose a novel meta-learner, termed RXlearner for estimating the conditional average treatment effect (CATE) within the general framework of meta-algorithms. RXlearner enhances the weighting mechanism of the traditional Xlearner to improve estimation accuracy. We establish non-asymptotic error bounds for RXlearner under a continuity classification criterion, specifically assuming that the response function satisfies Hölder continuity. Moreover, we show that these bounds are achievable by selecting an appropriate base learner. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through extensive simulation studies and a real-world data experiment.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-a7bbbe86d2964c749bbb3bd29e3481d42025-08-20T03:46:46ZengMDPI AGMathematics2227-73902025-05-011311173910.3390/math13111739A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder ContinuityZhihao Zhao0Congyang Zhou1School of Statistics, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, ChinaSchool of Statistics, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, ChinaEstimating heterogeneous treatment effects plays a vital role in many statistical applications, such as precision medicine and precision marketing. In this paper, we propose a novel meta-learner, termed RXlearner for estimating the conditional average treatment effect (CATE) within the general framework of meta-algorithms. RXlearner enhances the weighting mechanism of the traditional Xlearner to improve estimation accuracy. We establish non-asymptotic error bounds for RXlearner under a continuity classification criterion, specifically assuming that the response function satisfies Hölder continuity. Moreover, we show that these bounds are achievable by selecting an appropriate base learner. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated through extensive simulation studies and a real-world data experiment.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/11/1739conditional average treatment effectheterogeneous treatment effectcausal inferenceminimax optimalityHölder continuous
spellingShingle Zhihao Zhao
Congyang Zhou
A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder Continuity
Mathematics
conditional average treatment effect
heterogeneous treatment effect
causal inference
minimax optimality
Hölder continuous
title A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder Continuity
title_full A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder Continuity
title_fullStr A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder Continuity
title_full_unstemmed A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder Continuity
title_short A Meta-Learning Approach for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Under Hölder Continuity
title_sort meta learning approach for estimating heterogeneous treatment effects under holder continuity
topic conditional average treatment effect
heterogeneous treatment effect
causal inference
minimax optimality
Hölder continuous
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/11/1739
work_keys_str_mv AT zhihaozhao ametalearningapproachforestimatingheterogeneoustreatmenteffectsunderholdercontinuity
AT congyangzhou ametalearningapproachforestimatingheterogeneoustreatmenteffectsunderholdercontinuity
AT zhihaozhao metalearningapproachforestimatingheterogeneoustreatmenteffectsunderholdercontinuity
AT congyangzhou metalearningapproachforestimatingheterogeneoustreatmenteffectsunderholdercontinuity