Should We Choose Treatments by Comparing Hazard Functions?

Elie Appelbaum

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Hazard functions are widely used for comparing treatments, often through pointwise comparisons of their values over time. This note shows that such comparisons provide a sufficient but not necessary condition for treatment ranking. We demonstrate that the appropriate comparison criterion is based on cumulative hazard functions, i.e., the integrals of hazard functions over time. This perspective clarifies the interpretation of hazard-based comparisons and has implications for cases where hazard functions cross. The results suggest that commonly used comparison rules may be overly restrictive and may fail to identify clear treatment preferences.

Keywords: Hazard Functions; Treatment Choice; Areas under Hazard Functions; Decision Rule. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C18 C90 D81 D89 I10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
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