An Order-Independent Algorithm for Learning Chain Graphs

Abstract

LWF chain graphs combine directed acyclic graphs and undirected graphs. We propose a PC-like algorithm, called PC4LWF, that finds the structure of chain graphs under the faithfulness assumption to resolve the problem of scalability of the proposed algorithm by Studeny (1997). We prove that PC4LWF is order dependent, in the sense that the output can depend on the order in which the variables are given. This order dependence can be very pronounced in high-dimensional settings. We propose two modifications of the PC4LWF algorithm that remove part or all of this order dependence. Simulation results with different sample sizes, network sizes, and p-values demonstrate the competitive performance of the PC4LWF algorithms in comparison with the LCD algorithm proposed by Ma et al. (2008) in low-dimensional settings and improved performance (with regard to error measures) in high-dimensional settings.