# Practical Performative Policy Learning with Strategic Agents

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.01344 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.01344/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 43 of its 73 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 Dec 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 43)

- [XGBoost: A Scalable Tree Boosting System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.02754/) (2016)
- [GPyTorch: Blackbox Matrix-Matrix Gaussian Process Inference with GPU Acceleration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.11165/) (2018)
- [Meta-learners for Estimating Heterogeneous Treatment Effects using Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03461/) (2017)
- [Quasi-Oracle Estimation of Heterogeneous Treatment Effects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.04912/) (2017)
- [Performative Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.06673/) (2020)
- [Strategic Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.06980/) (2015)
- [Non-stationary Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1307.5449/) (2013)
- [Strategic Classification from Revealed Preferences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.07887/) (2017)
- [Outside the Echo Chamber: Optimizing the Performative Risk](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.08570/) (2021)
- [Stochastic Optimization for Performative Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.06887/) (2020)
- [Strategic Classification is Causal Modeling in Disguise](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.10362/) (2019)
- [How Do Classifiers Induce Agents To Invest Effort Strategically?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.05307/) (2018)
- [How to Learn when Data Reacts to Your Model: Performative Gradient Descent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.07698/) (2021)
- [Strategic Classification in the Dark](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.11592/) (2021)
- [Causal Strategic Linear Regression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.10066/) (2020)
- [Stochastic optimization with decision-dependent distributions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.11173/) (2020)
- [Strategic Classification Made Practical](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.01826/) (2021)
- [Alternative Microfoundations for Strategic Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.12705/) (2021)
- [Hedging the Drift: Learning to Optimize under Non-Stationarity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.01461/) (2019)
- [Maximizing Welfare with Incentive-Aware Evaluation Mechanisms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.01956/) (2020)
- [Regret Minimization with Performative Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.00628/) (2022)
- [Anticipating Performativity by Predicting from Predictions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.07331/) (2022)
- [The Sample Complexity of Online Contract Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.05732/) (2022)
- [Generalized Strategic Classification and the Case of Aligned Incentives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.04357/) (2022)
- [Doubly Robust Distributionally Robust Off-Policy Evaluation and Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.09667/) (2022)
- [Performative Prediction with Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.06879/) (2023)
- [Making Decisions under Outcome Performativity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.01745/) (2022)
- [Off-Policy Evaluation via Off-Policy Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.01624/) (2019)
- [Causal Strategic Classification: A Tale of Two Shifts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.06280/) (2023)
- [Learning Optimal Distributionally Robust Individualized Treatment Rules](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.15121/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Performative Policy Gradient: Optimality in Performative Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.20576/) (2025)
- [When Predictions Shape Reality: A Socio-Technical Synthesis of Performative Predictions in Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.04447/) (2026)
- [Off-Policy Evaluation with Strategic Agents via Local Disclosure](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.07308/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper studies the performative policy learning problem, where agents adjust their features in response to a released policy to improve their potential outcomes, inducing an endogenous distribution shift. There has been growing interest in training machine learning models in strategic environments, including strategic classification and performative prediction. However, existing approaches often rely on restrictive parametric assumptions: micro-level utility models in strategic classification and macro-level data distribution maps in performative prediction, severely limiting scalability and generalizability. We approach this problem as a complex causal inference task, relaxing parametric assumptions on both micro-level agent behavior and macro-level data distribution. Leveraging bounded rationality, we uncover a practical low-dimensional structure in distribution shifts and construct an effective mediator in the causal path from the deployed model to the shifted data. We then propose a gradient-based policy optimization algorithm with a differentiable classifier as a substitute for the high-dimensional distribution map. Our algorithm efficiently utilizes batch feedback and limited manipulation patterns. Our approach achieves high sample efficiency compared to methods reliant on bandit feedback or zero-order optimization. We also provide theoretical guarantees for algorithmic convergence. Extensive and challenging experiments on high-dimensional settings demonstrate our method's practical efficacy.