Correct the R-learner interpretation for nonlinear treatments - #491
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AliFozooni wants to merge 1 commit into
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Correct the R-learner interpretation for nonlinear treatments#491AliFozooni wants to merge 1 commit into
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August 15, 2026 18:06
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Summary
Why this matters
The previous example supplied residualized treatment as the final learner feature and interpreted its predictions as treatment-level derivatives. In the partially linear R-learner, however, the final model estimates tau(X). With no pre-treatment X in this simulation, that target is one best-fitting slope over the observed treatment distribution. A flexible model of the pseudo-outcome on treatment changes the estimand and does not identify a local derivative.
The revised example makes that distinction visible in both the derivation and plot, while retaining the later nonlinear residual-prediction model as an explicitly labeled heuristic rather than assigning it R-learner guarantees.
Validation
Closes #125
Closes #352
Closes #392
Closes #412
Closes #425