2004 年 31 巻 1 号 p. 13-28
Consider a case where cause-effect relationships between variables can be described as a causal diagram and the corresponding Gaussian linear structural equation model. In order to identify total effects in studies with an unobserved response variable, this paper proposes graphical criteria for selecting both covariates and variables caused by the response variable. The results enable us not only to judge from the graph structure whether a total effect can be expressed through the observed covariances, but also to provide its closed-form expression in case where its answer is affirmative. The graphical criteria of this paper are helpful to infer total effects when it is difficult to observe a response variable.
