Discussion on "Bayesian Regression Tree Models for Causal Inference: Regularization, Confounding, and Heterogeneous Effects" by Hahn, Murray and Carvalho

Abstract: Hahn et al. (2020) offers an extensive study to explicate and evaluate the performance of the BCF model in different settings and provides a detailed discussion about its utility in causal inference. It is a welcomed addition to the causal machine learning literature. I will emphasize the contribution of the BCF model to the field of causal inference through discussions on two topics: 1) the difference between the PS in the BCF model and the Bayesian PS in a Bayesian updating approach, 2) an alternative exposition of the role of the PS in outcome modeling based methods for the estimation of causal effects. I will conclude with comments on avenues for future research involving BCF that will be important and much needed in the era of Big data.