LM decision-tree recovery on known DGPs¶
Does the specification-test decision tree land on the model that generated the data? Each scenario simulates from a known DGP, runs the tree from one or more starting models, and records the terminal recommendation.
This is evidence about the implementation, not a guide to using it — for that see How to run Bayesian LM specification tests.
import warnings
import libpysal
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
from neighbayes.models import OLS, SAR, SEM, SLX
warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=FutureWarning)
warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=UserWarning)
import geopandas as gpd
from libpysal.graph import Graph
from libpysal.weights import Rook
# Generate data under H0: no spatial effects
np.random.seed(42)
# Load Columbus dataset for spatial weights
columbus_path = libpysal.examples.get_path("columbus.shp")
gdf = gpd.read_file(columbus_path)
# Create a Graph (modern libpysal API) for neighbayes models
# Row-standardize the graph so spatial models work correctly
g = Graph.build_contiguity(gdf, rook=True).transform("r")
n = g.n
# Legacy W for spreg comparison
w_spreg = Rook.from_shapefile(columbus_path)
w_spreg.transform = "r"
# Get sparse and dense W matrices
W_sparse = g.sparse.tocsr().astype(np.float64)
W_dense = np.array(W_sparse.todense())
# Design matrix
k = 3
X = np.column_stack([np.ones(n), np.random.normal(size=(n, k - 1))])
beta_true = np.array([1.0, 2.0, -1.5])
y = X @ beta_true + np.random.normal(scale=1.0, size=n)
print(f"W shape: {W_sparse.shape}, nnz: {W_sparse.nnz}")
W shape: (49, 49), nnz: 200
Cross-sectional recovery¶
Simulate from each cross-sectional DGP, start the decision tree from several plausible models, and record where it lands.
from neighbayes.dgp.cross_sectional import (
simulate_ols,
simulate_sar,
simulate_sdem,
simulate_sdm,
simulate_sem,
simulate_slx,
)
from neighbayes.dgp.utils import rook_grid_weights
ALPHA = 0.05
SAMPLE_KW = dict(draws=600, tune=600, chains=2, random_seed=7, progressbar=False)
# 12x12 rook grid (n=144), large enough for stable LM tests but quick to fit.
N_SIDE = 12
W_dense_grid, W_graph = rook_grid_weights(N_SIDE)
beta = np.array([1.0, 2.0])
beta1 = np.array([1.0, 2.0])
beta2 = np.array([1.5]) # WX coefficient — large so LM-WX detects it
COMMON = dict(W=W_graph, seed=42, sigma=1.0)
scenarios = {
"OLS": simulate_ols(beta=beta, **COMMON),
"SAR": simulate_sar(rho=0.6, beta=beta, **COMMON),
"SEM": simulate_sem(lam=0.6, beta=beta, **COMMON),
"SLX": simulate_slx(beta1=beta1, beta2=beta2, **COMMON),
"SDM": simulate_sdm(rho=0.5, beta1=beta1, beta2=beta2, **COMMON),
"SDEM": simulate_sdem(lam=0.5, beta1=beta1, beta2=beta2, **COMMON),
}
for name, d in scenarios.items():
print(
f"{name:5s} n={len(d['y']):3d} X.shape={d['X'].shape} "
f"true params: {list(d['params_true'].keys())}"
)
OLS n=144 X.shape=(144, 2) true params: ['beta', 'sigma']
SAR n=144 X.shape=(144, 2) true params: ['rho', 'beta', 'sigma']
SEM n=144 X.shape=(144, 2) true params: ['lam', 'beta', 'sigma']
SLX n=144 X.shape=(144, 2) true params: ['beta1', 'beta2', 'sigma']
SDM n=144 X.shape=(144, 2) true params: ['rho', 'beta1', 'beta2', 'sigma']
SDEM n=144 X.shape=(144, 2) true params: ['lam', 'beta1', 'beta2', 'sigma']
def to_frame(X):
"""Wrap design matrix in a DataFrame with intercept + x1, x2, ... names."""
cols = ["intercept"] + [f"x{i}" for i in range(1, X.shape[1])]
return pd.DataFrame(X, columns=cols)
def fit_start(start_cls, sim, **extra):
"""Fit a starting model on a simulation dict from neighbayes.dgp."""
Xf = to_frame(sim["X"])
yf = sim["y"]
model = start_cls(y=yf, X=Xf, W=W_graph, logdet_method="eigenvalue", **extra)
model.fit(**SAMPLE_KW)
return model
def diagnose(model, alpha=ALPHA):
"""Return (recommended_model, diagnostics_df)."""
diag = model.spatial_diagnostics()
rec = model.spatial_diagnostics_decision(alpha=alpha, format="model")
return rec, diag
experiments = [
("OLS", OLS, "OLS"),
("SAR", OLS, "SAR"),
("SEM", OLS, "SEM"),
("SLX", SLX, "SLX"),
("SDM", SAR, "SDM"),
("SDM", SLX, "SDM"),
("SDEM", SEM, "SDEM"),
("SDEM", SLX, "SDEM"),
]
results = []
fitted = {}
for dgp_name, start_cls, expected in experiments:
sim = scenarios[dgp_name]
model = fit_start(start_cls, sim)
rec, diag = diagnose(model)
fitted[(dgp_name, start_cls.__name__)] = (model, diag)
results.append(
{
"DGP": dgp_name,
"Starting model": start_cls.__name__,
"Recommended": rec,
"Expected": expected,
"Match": "yes" if rec == expected else "no",
}
)
summary = pd.DataFrame(results)
summary
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 600 tune and 600 draw iterations (1_200 + 1_200 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
/home/runner/micromamba/envs/test/lib/python3.14/site-packages/tqdm/auto.py:21: TqdmWarning: IProgress not found. Please update jupyter and ipywidgets. See https://ipywidgets.readthedocs.io/en/stable/user_install.html
from .autonotebook import tqdm as notebook_tqdm
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 600 tune and 600 draw iterations (1_200 + 1_200 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 600 tune and 600 draw iterations (1_200 + 1_200 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 600 tune and 600 draw iterations (1_200 + 1_200 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
/home/runner/micromamba/envs/test/lib/python3.14/site-packages/neighbayes/_logdet/_jax.py:188: ComplexWarning: Casting complex values to real discards the imaginary part
W_arr = np.asarray(W, dtype=np.float64)
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 600 tune and 600 draw iterations (1_200 + 1_200 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
/home/runner/micromamba/envs/test/lib/python3.14/site-packages/neighbayes/_logdet/_jax.py:188: ComplexWarning: Casting complex values to real discards the imaginary part
W_arr = np.asarray(W, dtype=np.float64)
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 600 tune and 600 draw iterations (1_200 + 1_200 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
| DGP | Starting model | Recommended | Expected | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | OLS | OLS | OLS | OLS | yes |
| 1 | SAR | OLS | SAR | SAR | yes |
| 2 | SEM | OLS | SEM | SEM | yes |
| 3 | SLX | SLX | SLX | SLX | yes |
| 4 | SDM | SAR | SARAR | SDM | no |
| 5 | SDM | SLX | SDM | SDM | yes |
| 6 | SDEM | SEM | SDEM | SDEM | yes |
| 7 | SDEM | SLX | SDEM | SDEM | yes |
for (dgp_name, start_name), (_, diag) in fitted.items():
rec = summary.query("DGP == @dgp_name and `Starting model` == @start_name").iloc[0]
print(
f"\n=== DGP={dgp_name} | start={start_name} | "
f"recommended={rec['Recommended']} ({rec['Match']} expected {rec['Expected']}) ==="
)
print(diag[["statistic", "df", "p_value"]].round(4).to_string())
=== DGP=OLS | start=OLS | recommended=OLS (yes expected OLS) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Lag 0.9421 1 0.3317
LM-Error 0.1455 1 0.7029
LM-SDM-Joint 2.7057 2 0.2585
LM-SLX-Error-Joint 1.0512 2 0.5912
Robust-LM-Lag 0.8982 1 0.3433
Robust-LM-Error 0.5391 1 0.4628
=== DGP=SAR | start=OLS | recommended=SAR (yes expected SAR) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Lag 61.1045 1 0.0000
LM-Error 25.4791 1 0.0000
LM-SDM-Joint 64.2955 2 0.0000
LM-SLX-Error-Joint 60.2682 2 0.0000
Robust-LM-Lag 36.3646 1 0.0000
Robust-LM-Error 0.0580 1 0.8097
=== DGP=SEM | start=OLS | recommended=SEM (yes expected SEM) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Lag 7.7141 1 0.0055
LM-Error 28.8128 1 0.0000
LM-SDM-Joint 30.0061 2 0.0000
LM-SLX-Error-Joint 30.1095 2 0.0000
Robust-LM-Lag 1.3070 1 0.2529
Robust-LM-Error 22.4407 1 0.0000
=== DGP=SLX | start=SLX | recommended=SLX (yes expected SLX) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Lag 3.0257 1 0.0820
LM-Error 0.1117 1 0.7382
Robust-LM-Lag-SDM 1.0495 1 0.3056
Robust-LM-Error-SDEM 0.9400 1 0.3323
=== DGP=SDM | start=SAR | recommended=SARAR (no expected SDM) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Error 4.3588 1 0.0368
LM-WX 12.6550 1 0.0004
Robust-LM-WX 1.5853 1 0.2080
Robust-LM-Error 7.8158 1 0.0052
=== DGP=SDM | start=SLX | recommended=SDM (yes expected SDM) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Lag 30.5240 1 0.0000
LM-Error 17.7450 1 0.0000
Robust-LM-Lag-SDM 9.5178 1 0.0020
Robust-LM-Error-SDEM 0.2169 1 0.6414
=== DGP=SDEM | start=SEM | recommended=SDEM (yes expected SDEM) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Lag 69.7847 1 0.0000
LM-WX 44.2379 1 0.0000
Robust-LM-Lag 0.6776 1 0.4104
Robust-LM-WX 24.9730 1 0.0000
=== DGP=SDEM | start=SLX | recommended=SDEM (yes expected SDEM) ===
statistic df p_value
test
LM-Lag 12.0932 1 0.0005
LM-Error 16.2227 1 0.0001
Robust-LM-Lag-SDM 1.3550 1 0.2444
Robust-LM-Error-SDEM 6.6657 1 0.0098
# ASCII rendering of the full decision tree with the traversed path highlighted.
model_sdm_from_slx, _ = fitted[("SDM", "SLX")]
print(model_sdm_from_slx.spatial_diagnostics_decision(alpha=ALPHA, format="ascii"))
LM-Lag * (p=0.0000, alpha=0.05)
├── <sig> LM-Error * (p=0.0000, alpha=0.05)
│ ├── <sig> Robust-LM-Lag-SDM * (p=0.0020, alpha=0.05)
│ │ ├── <sig> Robust-LM-Error-SDEM * (p=0.6414, alpha=0.05)
│ │ │ ├── <sig> Robust-LM-Lag-SDM p <= Robust-LM-Error-SDEM p
│ │ │ │ ├── [SDM]
│ │ │ │ └── [SDEM]
│ │ │ └── [SDM] * ← SELECTED
│ │ └── <not sig> Robust-LM-Error-SDEM
│ │ ├── [SDEM]
│ │ └── [SLX]
│ └── <not sig> Robust-LM-Lag-SDM
│ ├── [SDM]
│ └── [SLX]
└── <not sig> LM-Error
├── <sig> Robust-LM-Error-SDEM
│ ├── [SDEM]
│ └── [SLX]
└── [SLX]
Recovery findings. OLS, SAR, SEM, and SLX scenarios are recovered cleanly
from their natural starting models. The SDM and SDEM scenarios are not
recovered when starting from SAR/SEM/SLX: the tree escalates to SARAR (from
SAR/SEM) or MANSAR (from SLX) because both the lag and the error / WX
channels register significant simultaneously. This is the expected behaviour
of the Koley & Bera tree — treat SARAR/MANSAR as a flag to fit both SDM
and SDEM and compare with bayes_factor_compare_models.
Other things to keep in mind:
These experiments use strong-signal parameters; weaker spatial dependence (\(\rho \approx 0.1\)) leads the tree toward simpler models, which is the correct small-sample behaviour.
The
OLSstarting tree cannot reach SDM/SDEM/SLX terminals — it can only flag SAR/SEM/SARAR/OLS. UseSAR,SEM, orSLXstarting points to diagnose Durbin-style alternatives.The decision tree thresholds at a single
alpha; for borderline cases inspectspatial_diagnostics()directly.
Panel recovery¶
The same sweep over the fixed-effects panel DGPs.
from neighbayes.dgp.panel_fe import (
simulate_panel_ols_fe,
simulate_panel_sar_fe,
simulate_panel_sdem_fe,
simulate_panel_sdm_fe,
simulate_panel_sem_fe,
simulate_panel_slx_fe,
)
from neighbayes.models import (
OLSPanelFE,
SARPanelFE,
SEMPanelFE,
SLXPanelFE,
)
PANEL_N_SIDE = 10
_, W_panel_graph = rook_grid_weights(PANEL_N_SIDE)
PANEL_N = PANEL_N_SIDE * PANEL_N_SIDE
PANEL_T = 5
PANEL_COMMON = dict(N=PANEL_N, T=PANEL_T, W=W_panel_graph, seed=42, sigma=1.0)
PANEL_SAMPLE_KW = dict(draws=400, tune=400, chains=2, random_seed=7, progressbar=False)
panel_scenarios = {
"OLS": simulate_panel_ols_fe(beta=beta, **PANEL_COMMON),
"SAR": simulate_panel_sar_fe(rho=0.5, beta=beta, **PANEL_COMMON),
"SEM": simulate_panel_sem_fe(lam=0.5, beta=beta, **PANEL_COMMON),
"SLX": simulate_panel_slx_fe(beta1=beta1, beta2=beta2, **PANEL_COMMON),
"SDM": simulate_panel_sdm_fe(rho=0.4, beta1=beta1, beta2=beta2, **PANEL_COMMON),
"SDEM": simulate_panel_sdem_fe(lam=0.4, beta1=beta1, beta2=beta2, **PANEL_COMMON),
}
def fit_panel_start(start_cls, sim):
Xf = to_frame(sim["X"])
m = start_cls(
y=sim["y"],
X=Xf,
W=W_panel_graph,
N=PANEL_N,
T=PANEL_T,
effects=3, # two-way fixed effects
)
m.fit(**PANEL_SAMPLE_KW)
return m
panel_experiments = [
("OLS", OLSPanelFE, "OLSPanelFE"),
("SAR", OLSPanelFE, "SARPanelFE"),
("SEM", OLSPanelFE, "SEMPanelFE"),
("SLX", SLXPanelFE, "SLXPanelFE"),
("SDM", SARPanelFE, "SDMPanelFE"),
("SDM", SLXPanelFE, "SDMPanelFE"),
("SDEM", SEMPanelFE, "SDEMPanelFE"),
("SDEM", SLXPanelFE, "SDEMPanelFE"),
]
panel_results = []
panel_fitted = {}
for dgp_name, start_cls, expected in panel_experiments:
m = fit_panel_start(start_cls, panel_scenarios[dgp_name])
diag = m.spatial_diagnostics()
rec = m.spatial_diagnostics_decision(alpha=ALPHA, format="model")
panel_fitted[(dgp_name, start_cls.__name__)] = (m, diag)
panel_results.append(
{
"DGP": dgp_name,
"Starting model": start_cls.__name__,
"Recommended": rec,
"Expected": expected,
"Match": "yes" if rec == expected else "no",
}
)
panel_summary = pd.DataFrame(panel_results)
panel_summary
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 400 tune and 400 draw iterations (800 + 800 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 400 tune and 400 draw iterations (800 + 800 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 400 tune and 400 draw iterations (800 + 800 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 400 tune and 400 draw iterations (800 + 800 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
The rhat statistic is larger than 1.01 for some parameters. This indicates problems during sampling. See https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.08008 for details
/home/runner/micromamba/envs/test/lib/python3.14/site-packages/neighbayes/_logdet/_jax.py:188: ComplexWarning: Casting complex values to real discards the imaginary part
W_arr = np.asarray(W, dtype=np.float64)
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 400 tune and 400 draw iterations (800 + 800 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
/home/runner/micromamba/envs/test/lib/python3.14/site-packages/neighbayes/_logdet/_jax.py:188: ComplexWarning: Casting complex values to real discards the imaginary part
W_arr = np.asarray(W, dtype=np.float64)
Initializing NUTS using jitter+adapt_diag...
Multiprocess sampling (2 chains in 2 jobs)
NUTS: [beta, sigma2]
Sampling 2 chains for 400 tune and 400 draw iterations (800 + 800 draws total) took 5 seconds.
We recommend running at least 4 chains for robust computation of convergence diagnostics
The rhat statistic is larger than 1.01 for some parameters. This indicates problems during sampling. See https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.08008 for details
| DGP | Starting model | Recommended | Expected | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | OLS | OLSPanelFE | OLSPanelFE | OLSPanelFE | yes |
| 1 | SAR | OLSPanelFE | SARPanelFE | SARPanelFE | yes |
| 2 | SEM | OLSPanelFE | SEMPanelFE | SEMPanelFE | yes |
| 3 | SLX | SLXPanelFE | SLXPanelFE | SLXPanelFE | yes |
| 4 | SDM | SARPanelFE | SDMPanelFE | SDMPanelFE | yes |
| 5 | SDM | SLXPanelFE | SDMPanelFE | SDMPanelFE | yes |
| 6 | SDEM | SEMPanelFE | SDEMPanelFE | SDEMPanelFE | yes |
| 7 | SDEM | SLXPanelFE | SDEMPanelFE | SDEMPanelFE | yes |
for (dgp_name, start_name), (_, diag) in panel_fitted.items():
rec = panel_summary.query(
"DGP == @dgp_name and `Starting model` == @start_name"
).iloc[0]
print(
f"\n=== DGP={dgp_name} | start={start_name} | "
f"recommended={rec['Recommended']} ({rec['Match']} expected {rec['Expected']}) ==="
)
print(diag[["statistic", "df", "p_value"]].round(4).to_string())
=== DGP=OLS | start=OLSPanelFE | recommended=OLSPanelFE (yes expected OLSPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Lag 0.3659 1 0.5453
Panel-LM-Error 0.0028 1 0.9577
Panel-LM-SDM-Joint 0.5264 2 0.7686
Panel-LM-SLX-Error-Joint 0.5278 2 0.7681
Panel-Robust-LM-Lag 0.5128 1 0.4739
Panel-Robust-LM-Error 0.1525 1 0.6962
=== DGP=SAR | start=OLSPanelFE | recommended=SARPanelFE (yes expected SARPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Lag 158.1953 1 0.0000
Panel-LM-Error 50.2981 1 0.0000
Panel-LM-SDM-Joint 159.3719 2 0.0000
Panel-LM-SLX-Error-Joint 159.6871 2 0.0000
Panel-Robust-LM-Lag 110.7468 1 0.0000
Panel-Robust-LM-Error 1.1803 1 0.2773
=== DGP=SEM | start=OLSPanelFE | recommended=SEMPanelFE (yes expected SEMPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Lag 16.9363 1 0.0000
Panel-LM-Error 60.3938 1 0.0000
Panel-LM-SDM-Joint 61.1549 2 0.0000
Panel-LM-SLX-Error-Joint 61.2138 2 0.0000
Panel-Robust-LM-Lag 0.8092 1 0.3684
Panel-Robust-LM-Error 44.6549 1 0.0000
=== DGP=SLX | start=SLXPanelFE | recommended=SLXPanelFE (yes expected SLXPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Lag 1.8591 1 0.1727
Panel-LM-Error 0.0058 1 0.9394
Panel-Robust-LM-Lag-SDM 7.4781 1 0.0062
Panel-Robust-LM-Error-SDEM 5.6128 1 0.0178
=== DGP=SDM | start=SARPanelFE | recommended=SDMPanelFE (yes expected SDMPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Error 1163.0711 1 0.0
Panel-LM-WX 52.4066 1 0.0
Panel-Robust-LM-WX 48.1504 1 0.0
=== DGP=SDM | start=SLXPanelFE | recommended=SDMPanelFE (yes expected SDMPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Lag 57.0450 1 0.0000
Panel-LM-Error 21.9613 1 0.0000
Panel-Robust-LM-Lag-SDM 37.4341 1 0.0000
Panel-Robust-LM-Error-SDEM 2.2783 1 0.1312
=== DGP=SDEM | start=SEMPanelFE | recommended=SDEMPanelFE (yes expected SDEMPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Lag 211.9758 1 0.0
Panel-LM-WX 189.2647 1 0.0
=== DGP=SDEM | start=SLXPanelFE | recommended=SDEMPanelFE (yes expected SDEMPanelFE) ===
statistic df p_value
test
Panel-LM-Lag 23.8309 1 0.0000
Panel-LM-Error 34.2883 1 0.0000
Panel-Robust-LM-Lag-SDM 9.2329 1 0.0024
Panel-Robust-LM-Error-SDEM 19.8298 1 0.0000
Recovery findings (panel). All six panel DGPs are recovered correctly.
The redesigned _panel_sar_spec / _panel_sem_spec / _panel_slx_spec
decision trees disambiguate Durbin-family alternatives by checking the
robust LM-WX channel from a SAR fit, the LM-WX channel from a SEM fit,
and — from an SLX start — by tie-breaking the joint Lag-SDM /
Error-SDEM signal with the panel_lag_sdm_pval_le_error_sdem_pval
predicate (smaller p wins).