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arXiv · 2110.05720

A Burden Shared is a Burden Halved: A Fairness-Adjusted Approach to Classification

Bradley Rava·Wenguang Sun·Gareth M. James·Xin Tong
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Abstract

We investigate the fairness issue in classification, where automated decisions are made for individuals from different protected groups. In high-consequence scenarios, decision errors can disproportionately affect certain protected groups, leading to unfair outcomes. To address this issue, we propose a fairness-adjusted selective inference (FASI) framework and develop data-driven algorithms that achieve statistical parity by controlling the false selection rate (FSR) among protected groups. Our FASI algorithm operates by converting the outputs of black-box classifiers into R-values, which are both intuitive and computationally efficient. These R-values serve as the basis for selection rules that are provably valid for FSR control in finite samples for protected groups, effectively mitigating the unfairness in group-wise error rates. We demonstrate the numerical performance of our approach using both simulated and real data.

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Bradley Rava, Wenguang Sun, Gareth M. James, Xin Tong. 2021-10-12. A Burden Shared is a Burden Halved: A Fairness-Adjusted Approach to Classification. https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.05720

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