This paper proposes sparse and easy-to-interpret proximate factors to approximate statistical latent factors. Latent factors in a large-dimensional factor model can be estimated by principal component analysis (PCA), but are usually hard to interpret. We obtain proximate factors that are easier...

This paper develops an inferential theory for state-varying factor models of large dimensions. Unlike constant factor models, loadings are general functions of some recurrent state process. We develop an estimator for the latent factors and state-varying loadings under a large cross-section and...

The Internet Appendix collects the proofs and additional results that support the main text. We show in simulations that our estimators perform well relative to alternative estimators and can be improved even further with an iterative approach. We also confirm that the distribution results,...

This paper develops the inferential theory for latent factor models estimated from large dimensional panel data with missing observations. We propose an easy-to-use all-purpose estimator for a latent factor model by applying principal component analysis to an adjusted covariance matrix estimated...

Experimentation has become an increasingly prevalent tool for guiding decision-making and policy choices. A common hurdle in designing experiments is the lack of statistical power. In this paper, we study the optimal multi-period experimental design under the constraint that the treatment cannot...

Analyzing observational data from multiple sources can be useful for increasing statistical power to detect a treatment effect; however, practical constraints such as privacy considerations may restrict individual-level information sharing across data sets. This paper develops federated methods...

The Internet Appendix collects the proofs and additional results that support the main text. The additional theoretical results include a detailed description of special cases and related models and an extension to noisy and misspecified state processes. We also provide an estimator for the...