Difference in Differences with pymc models#

Note

This example is in-progress! Further elaboration and explanation will follow soon.

import arviz as az

import causalpy as cp
%load_ext autoreload
%autoreload 2
%config InlineBackend.figure_format = 'retina'
seed = 42

Load data#

df = cp.load_data("did")
df.head()
group t unit post_treatment y
0 0 0.0 0 False 0.897122
1 0 1.0 0 True 1.961214
2 1 0.0 1 False 1.233525
3 1 1.0 1 True 2.752794
4 0 0.0 2 False 1.149207

Run the analysis#

Note

The random_seed keyword argument for the PyMC sampler is not necessary. We use it here so that the results are reproducible.

result = cp.DifferenceInDifferences(
    df,
    formula="y ~ 1 + group*post_treatment",
    time_variable_name="t",
    group_variable_name="group",
    model=cp.pymc_models.LinearRegression(sample_kwargs={"random_seed": seed}),
)
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (4 chains in 4 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, y_hat_sigma]

Sampling 4 chains for 1_000 tune and 1_000 draw iterations (4_000 + 4_000 draws total) took 1 seconds.
Sampling: [beta, y_hat, y_hat_sigma]
Sampling: [y_hat]
Sampling: [y_hat]
Sampling: [y_hat]
Sampling: [y_hat]
fig, ax = result.plot()
../_images/87313d7952668009f4434f556a2cfc1af195d172706f37fc61b9613bb6722191.png
result.summary()
===========================Difference in Differences============================
Formula: y ~ 1 + group*post_treatment

Results:
Causal impact = 0.50$CI_{94\%}$[0.41, 0.6]
Model coefficients:
    Intercept                     1.1, 94% HDI [1, 1.1]
    post_treatment[T.True]        0.99, 94% HDI [0.92, 1.1]
    group                         0.16, 94% HDI [0.092, 0.23]
    group:post_treatment[T.True]  0.5, 94% HDI [0.41, 0.6]
    y_hat_sigma                   0.082, 94% HDI [0.066, 0.1]

We can get nicely formatted tables from our integration with the maketables package.

from maketables import ETable

result.set_maketables_options(hdi_prob=0.95)
ETable(result, coef_fmt="b:.3f \n [ci95l:.3f, ci95u:.3f]")
y
(1)
coef
post_treatment=True 0.986
[0.915, 1.063]
group 0.162
[0.088, 0.231]
group × post_treatment=True 0.505
[0.399, 0.606]
Intercept 1.075
[1.025, 1.128]
stats
N 40
Format of coefficient cell: Coefficient [95% CI Lower, 95% CI Upper]

ax = az.plot_posterior(result.causal_impact, ref_val=0)
ax.set(title="Posterior estimate of causal impact");

Effect Summary Reporting#

For decision-making, you often need a concise summary of the causal effect. The effect_summary() method provides a decision-ready report with key statistics. Note that for Difference-in-Differences, the effect is a single scalar (average treatment effect), unlike time-series experiments where effects vary over time.

# Generate effect summary
stats = result.effect_summary()
stats.table
mean median hdi_lower hdi_upper p_gt_0
treatment_effect 0.504728 0.503797 0.398865 0.605905 1.0
print(stats.text)
The average treatment effect was 0.50 (95% HDI [0.40, 0.61]), with a posterior probability of an increase of 1.000.

You can customize the summary with different directions and ROPE thresholds:

  • Direction: Test for increase, decrease, or two-sided effect

  • Alpha: Set the HDI confidence level (default 95%)

  • ROPE: Specify a minimal effect size threshold

# Example: Two-sided test with ROPE
stats = result.effect_summary(
    direction="two-sided",
    alpha=0.05,
    min_effect=0.3,  # Region of Practical Equivalence
)
stats.table
mean median hdi_lower hdi_upper p_two_sided prob_of_effect p_rope
treatment_effect 0.504728 0.503797 0.398865 0.605905 0.0 1.0 0.9995
print("\n" + stats.text)
The average treatment effect was 0.50 (95% HDI [0.40, 0.61]), with a posterior probability of an effect of 1.000.