Endogenous variable
An endogenous variable is a variable in a structural causal model whose value is determined by the model’s relationships and exogenous inputs.
Causal AI
An endogenous variable is a variable in a structural causal model whose value is determined by an assignment function from its causes and exogenous inputs.
- How it is used
- Identifies the explicitly modeled variables whose values an SCM computes and whose hypothetical outcomes counterfactual inference predicts.
- How deep it goes
- Defines deterministic assignments, contrasts their randomness with conditional sampling, and notes that data alone cannot identify the ground-truth SCM.
- Examples
- Uses a Python rock-throwing process and an additive enzyme-to-protein assignment to make computed values concrete.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch by specifying a causal DAG, exogenous inputs, and an assignment function for each endogenous variable.
Causal Inference for Data Science
A variable within a causal model whose value is determined by relationships represented in the model and by associated exogenous variables.
- How it is used
- Organizes variables inside a causal model so their dependencies and external influences can be represented separately.
- How deep it goes
- Defines endogenous variables through parents and structural functions, but stops short of specifying those functions exactly.
- Examples
- Uses a three-node graph with Z, X, and Y, plus unobserved factors UZ, UX, and UY.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate average treatment effects even when the exact causal functions governing endogenous variables remain unknown.
Read how Causal Inference for Data Science explains endogenous variable →
Related concepts
- structural causal modelpart of · A structural causal model represents causal relationships among variables through equations that determine each variable from other variables and exogenous factors.
- assignment functionconfigured by · An assignment function is a deterministic rule in a structural causal model that determines an endogenous variable from its causal parents and exogenous inputs.
- exogenous variablecontrasts with · An exogenous variable is a causal input whose variation originates outside the endogenous system represented by a structural causal model.
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