Covariance matrices which can be arranged in tridiagonal form are called covariance chains. They are used to clarify some issues of parameter equivalence and of independence equivalence for linear models in which a set of latent variables influences a set of observed variables. For this purpose, orthogonal decompositions for covariance chains are derived first in explicit form. Covariance chains are also contrasted to concentration chains, for which estimation is explicit and simple. For this purpose, maximum-likelihood equations are derived first for exponential families when some parameters satisfy zero value constraints. From these equations explicit estimates are obtained, which are asymptotically efficient, and they are applied to covariance chains. Simulation results confirm the satisfactory behaviour of the explicit covariance chain estimates also in moderate-size samples.

A fundamental question in causal inference is whether it is possible to reliably infer the manipulation effects from observational data. There are a variety of senses of asymptotic reliability in the statistical literature, among which the most commonly discussed frequentist notions are pointwise consistency and uniform consistency (see, e.g. Bickel, Doksum [2001]). Uniform consistency is in general preferred to pointwise consistency because the former allows us to control the worst case error bounds with a finite sample size. In the sense of pointwise consistency, several reliable causal inference algorithms have been established under the Markov and Faithfulness assumptions [Pearl 2000, Spirtes et al. 2001]. In the sense of uniform consistency, however, reliable causal inference is impossible under the two assumptions when time order is unknown and/or latent confounders are present [Robins et al. 2000]. In this paper we present two natural generalizations of the Faithfulness assumption in the context of structural equation models, under which we show that the typical algorithms in the literature are uniformly consistent with or without modifications even when the time order is unknown. We also discuss the situation where latent confounders may be present and the sense in which the Faithfulness assumption is a limiting case of the stronger assumptions.

A joint density of many variables may satisfy a possibly large set of independence statements, called its independence structure. Often the structure of interest is representable by a graph that consists of nodes representing variables and of edges that couple node pairs. We consider joint densities of this type, generated by a stepwise process in which all variables and dependences of interest are included. Otherwise, there are no constraints on the type of variables or on the form of the generating conditional densities. For the joint density that then results after marginalising and conditioning, we derive what we name the summary graph. It is seen to capture precisely the independence structure implied by the generating process, it identifies dependences which remain undistorted due to direct or indirect confounding and it alerts to such, possibly severe distortions in other parametrizations. Summary graphs preserve their form after marginalising and conditioning and they include multivariate regression chain graphs as special cases. We use operators for matrix representations of graphs to derive matrix results and translate these into special types of path. 1. Introduction. Graphical Markov

Ordered sequences of univariate or multivariate regressions provide statistical modelsfor analysingdata fromrandomized, possiblysequential interventions, from cohort or multi-wave panel studies, but also from cross-sectional or retrospective studies. Conditional independences are captured by what we name regression graphs, provided the generated distribution shares some properties with a joint Gaussian distribution. Regression graphs extend purely directed, acyclic graphs by two types of undirected graph, one type for components of joint responses and the other for components of the context vector variable. We review the special features and the history of regression graphs, prove criteria for Markov equivalence anddiscussthenotion of simpler statistical covering models. Knowledgeof Markov equivalence provides alternative interpretations of a given sequence of regressions, is essential for machine learning strategies and permits to use the simple graphical criteria of regression graphs on graphs for which the corresponding criteria are in general more complex. Under the known conditions that a Markov equivalent directed acyclic graph exists for any given regression graph, we give a polynomial time algorithm to find one such graph.

A joint density of several variables may satisfy a possibly large set of independence statements, called its independence structure. Often this structure is fully representable by a graph that consists of nodes representing variables and of edges that couple node pairs. We consider joint densities of this type, generated by a stepwise process in which all variables and dependences of interest are included. Otherwise, there are no constraints on the type of variables or on the form of the distribution generated. For densities that then result after marginalising and conditioning, we derive what we name the summary graph. It is seen to capture precisely the independence structure implied by the generating process, it identifies dependences which remain undistorted due to direct or indirect confounding and it alerts to possibly severe distortions of these two types in other parametrizations. Summary graphs preserve their form after marginalising and conditioning and they include multivariate regression chain graphs as special cases. We use operators for matrix representations of graphs to derive matrix results and translate these into special types of path. 1. Introduction. Graphical Markov

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we study sequences of regressions in joint or single responses given a set of context variables, where a dependence structure of interest is captured by a regression graph. These graphs have nodes representing random variables and three types of edge. Their set of missing edges defines the independence structure of the graph provided two properties are used that are not common to all probability distributions, named the intersection and the composition property. We derive the additionally needed properties for tracing the effects of single active paths and for excluding any canceling of effects due to several paths connecting the same pair of nodes. For this, we use the notion of a generating process for the joint distribution and derive new properties of an edge matrix calculus for transforming graphs. One key is the M-matrix property of each regularized square edge matrix, others are the proposed notions of traceable regressions and of singleton transitivity.