Causal machine learning in social impact assessment

Lopes, Nuno Castro; Cavique, Luís

Publication

Causal machine learning in social impact assessment

2023-10-18Book part

dc.contributor.author	Lopes, Nuno Castro
dc.contributor.author	Cavique, Luís
dc.contributor.editor	Moutinho, Luiz
dc.contributor.editor	Cavique, Luís
dc.contributor.editor	Bigné, Enrique
dc.date.accessioned	2025-10-13T16:52:00Z
dc.date.available	2025-10-13T16:52:00Z
dc.date.issued	2023-10-18
dc.description.abstract	Social impact assessment is a fundamental process to verify the achievement of the objectives of interventions and, consequently, to validate investments in the social area. Generally, this process is based on the analysis of the average effects of the intervention, which does not allow a detailed understanding of the individualization of these effects. Causal machine learning methods mark an evolution in causal inference, as they allow for a more heterogeneous assessment of the effects of interventions. Applying these methods to evaluate the impact of social projects and programs offers the advantage of improving the selection of target audiences and optimizing and personalizing future interventions. In this chapter, in a non-technical way, the authors explore classical causal inference methods to estimate average effects and new causal machine learning methods to evaluate heterogeneous effects. They address adapting the Uplift Modeling method to assess social interventions. They also address the advantages, limitations, and research needs for using these new techniques in social intervention.	eng
dc.identifier.doi	10.4018/978-1-6684-9591-9.ch004
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/20352
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.peerreviewed	yes
dc.publisher	IGI-Global
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.title	Causal machine learning in social impact assessment	eng
dc.type	book part
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.citation.title	Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence and Its Place in Society
oaire.version	http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyName	Cavique
person.givenName	Luís
person.identifier.ciencia-id	911E-84AC-3956
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0002-5590-1493
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	40906a16-46a2-42f1-b26d-7db7012294ee
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	40906a16-46a2-42f1-b26d-7db7012294ee