# Efficient Data Valuation Approximation in Federated Learning: A Sampling-based Approach

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.16668 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.16668/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 47 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Apr 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [Communication-Efficient Learning of Deep Networks from Decentralized Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.05629/) (2016)
- [Advances and Open Problems in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.04977/) (2019)
- [Federated Optimization in Heterogeneous Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.06127/) (2018)
- [LEAF: A Benchmark for Federated Settings](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.01097/) (2018)
- [Data Shapley: Equitable Valuation of Data for Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.02868/) (2019)
- [Federated Learning on Non-IID Data Silos: An Experimental Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.02079/) (2021)
- [Federated Machine Learning: Concept and Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.04885/) (2019)
- [A Survey on Federated Learning Systems: Vision, Hype and Reality for Data Privacy and Protection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.09693/) (2019)
- [Personalized Cross-Silo Federated Learning on Non-IID Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.03797/) (2020)
- [Towards Efficient Data Valuation Based on the Shapley Value](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.10275/) (2019)
- [Heterogeneous Federated Learning: State-of-the-art and Research Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10616/) (2023)
- [Efficient Task-Specific Data Valuation for Nearest Neighbor Algorithms](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.08619/) (2019)
- [Data Banzhaf: A Robust Data Valuation Framework for Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.15466/) (2022)
- [A Principled Approach to Data Valuation for Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.06192/) (2020)
- [The Shapley Value in Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05594/) (2022)
- [Privacy Preserving Vertical Federated Learning for Tree-based Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.06170/) (2020)
- [GTG-Shapley: Efficient and Accurate Participant Contribution Evaluation in Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.02053/) (2021)
- [Model-sharing Games: Analyzing Federated Learning Under Voluntary Participation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.00753/) (2020)
- [Practical Federated Gradient Boosting Decision Trees](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.04206/) (2019)
- [No One Left Behind: Inclusive Federated Learning over Heterogeneous Devices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.08036/) (2022)
- [BlindFL: Vertical Federated Machine Learning without Peeking into Your Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.07975/) (2022)
- [FS-Real: Towards Real-World Cross-Device Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13363/) (2023)
- [Secure Shapley Value for Cross-Silo Federated Learning (Technical Report)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.04856/) (2022)
- [The Shapley Value in Database Management](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.06234/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Federated Personalization of Early-Exit Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.10015/) (2026)
- [MemLens: A Value-Aware Memory Management System with Interactive Analytics for LLM-based Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.25992/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Federated learning paradigm to utilize datasets across multiple data providers. In FL, cross-silo data providers often hesitate to share their high-quality dataset unless their data value can be fairly assessed. Shapley value (SV) has been advocated as the standard metric for data valuation in FL due to its desirable properties. However, the computational overhead of SV is prohibitive in practice, as it inherently requires training and evaluating an FL model across an exponential number of dataset combinations. Furthermore, existing solutions fail to achieve high accuracy and efficiency, making practical use of SV still out of reach, because they ignore choosing suitable computation scheme for approximation framework and overlook the property of utility function in FL. We first propose a unified stratified-sampling framework for two widely-used schemes. Then, we analyze and choose the more promising scheme under the FL linear regression assumption. After that, we identify a phenomenon termed key combinations, where only limited dataset combinations have a high-impact on final data value. Building on these insights, we propose a practical approximation algorithm, IPSS, which strategically selects high-impact dataset combinations rather than evaluating all possible combinations, thus substantially reducing time cost with minor approximation error. Furthermore, we conduct extensive evaluations on the FL benchmark datasets to demonstrate that our proposed algorithm outperforms a series of representative baselines in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.