122 - Econ2: Causal machine learning, data interpretability, and online platform markets featuring Hunt Allcott and Greg Lewis
In the world of economics, researchers at Microsoft are examining a range of complex systems—from those that impact the technologies we use to those that inform the laws and policies we create—through the lens of a social science that goes beyond the numbers to better understand people and society. In this episode, Senior Principal Researcher Dr. Hunt Allcott (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/hallcott/) speaks with Microsoft Research New England office mate and Senior Principal Researcher Dr. Greg Lewis (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/glewis/). Together, they cover the connection between causal machine learning and economics research, the motivations of buyers and sellers on e-commerce platforms, and how ad targeting and data practices could evolve to foster a more symbiotic relationship between customers and businesses. They also discuss EconML (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/econml/), a Python package for estimating heterogeneous treatment effects that Lewis has worked on as part of the ALICE (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/alice/) (Automated Learning and Intelligence for Causation and Economics) project at Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/research