Optimal policy learning using Stata

Giovanni Cerulli ()
Additional contact information
Giovanni Cerulli: IRCeES-CNR

Stata Journal, 2025, vol. 25, issue 2, 309-343

Abstract: In this article, I introduce the package opl for optimal policy learning, facilitating ex ante policy impact evaluation within the Stata environment. De- spite theoretical progress, practical implementations of policy-learning algorithms are still poor within popular statistical software. To address this limitation, opl implements three popular policy-learning algorithms in Stata—threshold based, linear combination, and fixed-depth decision tree—and provides practical demon- strations of them using a real dataset. I also present policy-scenario development proposing a menu strategy, which is particularly useful when selection variables are affected by welfare monotonicity. Overall, this article contributes to bridging the gap between theoretical advancements and practical applications in the field of policy learning.

Keywords: opl; make_cate; opl_dt_c; opl_dt; opl_lc_c; opl_lc; opl_tb_c; opl_tb; ex ante policy evaluation; optimal policy learning; optimal treatment assignment; machine learning; conditional average treatment effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
Note: to access software from within Stata, net describe http://www.stata-journal.com/software/sj25-2/st0774/
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.stata-journal.com/article.html?article=st0774 link to article purchase

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tsj:stataj:v:25:y:2025:i:2:p:309-343

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.stata-journal.com/subscription.html

DOI: 10.1177/1536867X251341143

Access Statistics for this article

Stata Journal is currently edited by Nicholas J. Cox and Stephen P. Jenkins

More articles in Stata Journal from StataCorp LLC
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F. Baum () and Lisa Gilmore ().