Local influence diagnostics for generalized linear mixed models with overdispersion

Since the seminal paper by Cook and Weisberg [9 R.D. Cook and S. Weisberg, Residuals and Influence in Regression, Chapman &; Hall, London, 1982. [Google Scholar]], local influence, next to case deletion, has gained popularity as a tool to detect influential subjects and measurements for a variety of statistical models. For the linear mixed model the approach leads to easily interpretable and computationally convenient expressions, not only highlighting influential subjects, but also which aspect of their profile leads to undue influence on the model's fit [17 E. Lesaffre and G. Verbeke, Local influence in linear mixed models, Biometrics 54 (1998), pp. 570–582. doi: 10.2307/3109764[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. Ouwens et al. [24 M.J.N.M. Ouwens, F.E.S. Tan, and M.P.F. Berger, Local influence to detect influential data structures for generalized linear mixed models, Biometrics 57 (2001), pp. 1166–1172. doi: 10.1111/j.0006-341X.2001.01166.x[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] applied the method to the Poisson-normal generalized linear mixed model (GLMM). Given the model's nonlinear structure, these authors did not derive interpretable components but rather focused on a graphical depiction of influence. In this paper, we consider GLMMs for binary, count, and time-to-event data, with the additional feature of accommodating overdispersion whenever necessary. For each situation, three approaches are considered, based on: (1) purely numerical derivations; (2) using a closed-form expression of the marginal likelihood function; and (3) using an integral representation of this likelihood. Unlike when case deletion is used, this leads to interpretable components, allowing not only to identify influential subjects, but also to study the cause thereof. The methodology is illustrated in case studies that range over the three data types mentioned.     

Robust estimation for non-homogeneous data and the selection of the optimal tuning parameter: the density power divergence approach

The density power divergence (DPD) measure, defined in terms of a single parameter α, has proved to be a popular tool in the area of robust estimation [1 A. Basu, I.R. Harris, N.L. Hjort and M.C. Jones, Robust and efficient estimation by minimizing a density power divergence, Biometrika 85 (1998), pp. 549–559. doi: 10.1093/biomet/85.3.549[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. Recently, Ghosh and Basu [5 A. Ghosh and A. Basu, Robust estimation for independent non-homogeneous observations using density power divergence with applications to linear regression, Electron. J. Stat. 7 (2013), pp. 2420–2456. doi: 10.1214/13-EJS847[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] rigorously established the asymptotic properties of the MDPDEs in case of independent non-homogeneous observations. In this paper, we present an extensive numerical study to describe the performance of the method in the case of linear regression, the most common setup under the case of non-homogeneous data. In addition, we extend the existing methods for the selection of the optimal robustness tuning parameter from the case of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) data to the case of non-homogeneous observations. Proper selection of the tuning parameter is critical to the appropriateness of the resulting analysis. The selection of the optimal robustness tuning parameter is explored in the context of the linear regression problem with an extensive numerical study involving real and simulated data.     

An efficient use of moment's ratios of scrambling variables in a randomized response technique

This paper aimed at providing an efficient new unbiased estimator for estimating the proportion of a potentially sensitive attribute in survey sampling. The suggested randomization device makes use of the means, variances of scrambling variables, and the two scalars lie between “zero” and “one.” Thus, the same amount of information has been used at the estimation stage. The variance formula of the suggested estimator has been obtained. We have compared the proposed unbiased estimator with that of Kuk (1990 Kuk, A.Y.C. (1990). Asking sensitive questions inderectely. Biometrika 77:436–438.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Franklin (1989 Franklin, L.A. (1989). A comparision of estimators for randomized response sampling with continuous distribution s from a dichotomous population. Commun. Stat. Theor. Methods 18:489–505.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and Singh and Chen (2009 Singh, S., Chen, C.C. (2009). Utilization of higher order moments of scrambling variables in randomized response sampling. J. Stat. Plann. Inference. 139:3377–3380.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimators. Relevant conditions are obtained in which the proposed estimator is more efficient than Kuk (1990 Kuk, A.Y.C. (1990). Asking sensitive questions inderectely. Biometrika 77:436–438.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Franklin (1989 Franklin, L.A. (1989). A comparision of estimators for randomized response sampling with continuous distribution s from a dichotomous population. Commun. Stat. Theor. Methods 18:489–505.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Singh and Chen (2009 Singh, S., Chen, C.C. (2009). Utilization of higher order moments of scrambling variables in randomized response sampling. J. Stat. Plann. Inference. 139:3377–3380.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimators. The optimum estimator (OE) in the proposed class of estimators has been identified which finally depends on moments ratios of the scrambling variables. The variance of the optimum estimator has been obtained and compared with that of the Kuk (1990 Kuk, A.Y.C. (1990). Asking sensitive questions inderectely. Biometrika 77:436–438.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Franklin (1989 Franklin, L.A. (1989). A comparision of estimators for randomized response sampling with continuous distribution s from a dichotomous population. Commun. Stat. Theor. Methods 18:489–505.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimator and Singh and Chen (2009 Singh, S., Chen, C.C. (2009). Utilization of higher order moments of scrambling variables in randomized response sampling. J. Stat. Plann. Inference. 139:3377–3380.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimator. It is interesting to mention that the “optimum estimator” of the class of estimators due to Singh and Chen (2009 Singh, S., Chen, C.C. (2009). Utilization of higher order moments of scrambling variables in randomized response sampling. J. Stat. Plann. Inference. 139:3377–3380.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) depends on the parameter π under investigation which limits the use of Singh and Chen (2009 Singh, S., Chen, C.C. (2009). Utilization of higher order moments of scrambling variables in randomized response sampling. J. Stat. Plann. Inference. 139:3377–3380.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) OE in practice while the proposed OE in this paper is free from such a constraint. The proposed OE depends only on the moments ratios of scrambling variables. This is an advantage over the Singh and Chen (2009 Singh, S., Chen, C.C. (2009). Utilization of higher order moments of scrambling variables in randomized response sampling. J. Stat. Plann. Inference. 139:3377–3380.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) estimator. Numerical illustrations are given in the support of the present study when the scrambling variables follow normal distribution. Theoretical and empirical results are very sound and quite illuminating in the favor of the present study.     

Robust BCa–JaB method as a diagnostic tool for linear regression models

The Jackknife-after-bootstrap (JaB) technique originally developed by Efron [8 B. Efron, Jackknife-after-bootstrap standard errors and influence functions, J. R. Stat. Soc. 54 (1992), pp. 83–127. [Google Scholar]] has been proposed as an approach to improve the detection of influential observations in linear regression models by Martin and Roberts [12 M.A. Martin and S. Roberts, Jackknife-after-bootstrap regression influence diagnostics, J. Nonparametr. Stat. 22 (2010), pp. 257–269. doi: 10.1080/10485250903287906[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] and Beyaztas and Alin [2 U. Beyaztas and A. Alin, Jackknife-after-bootstrap method for detection of influential observations in linear regression model, Comm. Statist. Simulation Comput. 42 (2013), pp. 1256–1267. doi: 10.1080/03610918.2012.661908[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. The method is based on the use of percentile-method confidence intervals to provide improved cut-off values for several single case-deletion influence measures. In order to improve JaB, we propose using robust versions of Efron [7 B. Efron, Better bootstrap confidence intervals, J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 82 (1987), pp. 171–185. doi: 10.1080/01621459.1987.10478410[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]’s bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap confidence intervals. In this study, the performances of robust BCa–JaB and conventional JaB methods are compared in the cases of DFFITS, Welsch's distance and modified Cook's distance influence diagnostics. Comparisons are based on both real data examples and through a simulation study. Our results reveal that under a variety of scenarios, our proposed method provides more accurate and reliable results, and it is more robust to masking effects.     

Hill's estimator under weak dependence

In this article, we investigate the asymptotic normality of the Hill's estimator of the tail index parameter, when the observations are weakly dependent in the sense of Doukhan and Louhichi (1999 Doukhan, P., Louhichi, S. (1999). A new weak dependence condition and applications to moment inequalities. Stochastic Process. Appl. 84:313–342.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and are drawn from a strictly linear process. We show that the previous result on Hill estimator obtained by Rootzen et al. (1990 Rootzen, H., Leadbetter, M., De Haan, L. (1990). Tail and quantile estimation for strongly mixing stationary sequences. Technical report. No. 292, Center for Stochastic Processes, Department of Statistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. [Google Scholar]) and Resnick and Starica (1997 Resnick, S., Starica, C. (1997). Asymptotic behavior of Hill's estimator for autoregressive data. Commun. Statistics-stochastic Models 13:703–723.[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) for strong mixing can be extended to weak dependence.     

A one-sample location test based on weighted averaging of two test statistics when the dimension and the sample size are large

We discuss a one-sample location test that can be used when the dimension and the sample size are large. It is well-known that the power of Hotelling’s test decreases when the dimension is close to the sample size. To address this loss of power, some non exact approaches were proposed, e.g., Dempster (1958 Dempster, A.P. (1958). A high dimensional two sample significance test. Ann. Math. Stat. 29:995–1010.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 1960 Dempster, A.P. (1960). A significance test for the separation of two highly multivariate small samples. Biometrics 16:41–50.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Bai and Saranadasa (1996 Bai, Z.D., Saranadasa, H. (1996). Effect of high dimension: by an example of a two sample problem. Stat. Sin. 6:311–329.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and Srivastava and Du (2008 Srivastava, M.S., Du, M. (2008). A test for the mean vector with fewer observations than the dimension. J. Multivariate Anal. 99:386–402.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In this article, we focus on Hotelling’s test and Dempster’s test. The comparative merits and demerits of these two tests vary according to the local parameters. In particular, we consider the situation where it is difficult to determine which test should be used, that is, where the two tests are asymptotically equivalent in terms of local power. We propose a new statistic based on the weighted averaging of Hotelling’s T²-statistic and Dempster’s statistic that can be applied in such a situation. Our weight is determined on the basis of the maximum local asymptotic power on a restricted parameter space that induces local asymptotic equivalence between Hotelling’s test and Dempster’s test. Numerical results show that our test is more stable than Hotelling’s T²-statistic and Dempster’s statistic in most parameter settings.     

A Universal Prior Distribution for Bayesian Consistency of Non parametric Procedures

The introduction of the Hausdorff α-entropy in Xing (2008a Xing, Y. (2008a). Convergence rates of posterior distributions for observations without the iid structure, 38 pages. Available at: www.arxiv.org:0811.4677v1. [Google Scholar]), Xing (2008b Xing, Y. (2008b). On adaptive Bayesian inference. Electron. J. Stat. 2:848–862.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), Xing (2010 Xing, Y. (2010). Rates of posterior convergence for iid Observations. Commun. Stat. Theory Methods. 39(19):3389–3398.[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), Xing (2011 Xing, Y. (2011). Convergence rates of nonparametric posterior distributions. J. Stat. Plann. Inference 141:3382–3390.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and Xing and Ranneby (2009 Xing, Y., Ranneby, B. (2009). Sufficient conditions for Bayesian consistency. J. Stat. Plann. Inference. 139:2479–2489.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) has lead a series of improvements of well-known results on posterior consistency. In this paper we discuss an application of the Hausdorff α-entropy. We construct a universal prior distribution such that the corresponding posterior distribution is almost surely consistent. The approach of the construction of this type of prior distribution is natural, but it works very well for all separable models. We illustrate such prior distributions by examples. In particular, we obtain that if the true density function is known to be some normal probability density function with unknown mean and unknown variance then without any additional assumption one can construct a prior distribution which leads to posterior consistency.     

On a Generalization of Bivariate Cauchy Distribution

This paper addresses a generalization of the bivariate Cauchy distribution discussed by Fang et al. (1990 Fang , K. T. , Kotz , S. , Ng , K. W. ( 1990 ). Symmetric Multivariate and Related Distributions . London : Chapman and Hall .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), derived from a trivariate normal distribution with a general correlation matrix. We obtain explicit expressions for the joint distribution function and joint density function, and show that they reduce in a special case to the corresponding expressions of Fang et al. (1990 Fang , K. T. , Kotz , S. , Ng , K. W. ( 1990 ). Symmetric Multivariate and Related Distributions . London : Chapman and Hall .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Finally, we show that this generalized distribution is useful in determining the orthant probability of a bivariate skew-normal distribution of Azzalini and Dalla Valle (1996 Azzalini , A. , Dalla Valle , A. ( 1996 ). The multivariate skew-normal distribution . Biometrika 83 : 715 – 726 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

Monitoring means and covariances of multivariate non linear time series with heavy tails

In this paper, the focus is on sequential analysis of multivariate financial time series with heavy tails. The mean vector and the covariance matrix of multivariate non linear models are simultaneously monitored by modifying conventional control charts to identify structural changes in the data. The considered target process is a constant conditional correlation model (cf. Bollerslev, 1990 Bollerslev, T. (1990). Modeling the coherence in short-run nominal exchange rates: A multivariate generalized ARCH model. Rev. Econ. Stat. 72:498–505.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), an extended constant conditional correlation model (cf. He and Teräsvirta, 2004 He, C., Teräsvirta, T. (2004). An extended constant conditional correlation GARCH model and its fourth-moment structure. Economet. Theory 20:904–926.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), a dynamic conditional correlation model (cf. Engle, 2002 Engle, R.F. (2002). Dynamic conditional correlation: A simple class of multivariate GARCH models. J. Bus. Econ. Stat. 20(3):339–350.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), or a generalized dynamic conditional correlation model (cf. Capiello et al., 2006 Capiello, L., Engle, R., Sheppard, K. (2006). Asymmetric correlations in the dynamics of global equity and bond returns. J. Financial Economet. 4(4):537–572.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). For statistical surveillance we use control charts based on residuals. Further, the procedures are constructed for t-distribution. The detection speed of these charts is compared via Monte Carlo simulation. In the empirical study, the procedure with the best performance is applied to log-returns of the stock market indices FTSE and CAC.     

A Nonparametric Test for Deviation from Randomness with Applications to Stock Market Index Data

The proposed test detects deviations from randomness, without a priori distributional assumption, when observations are not independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.), which is suitable for our motivating stock market index data. Departures from i.i.d. are tested by subdividing data into subintervals and then using a conditional probability measure within intervals as a binomial test. This nonparametric test is designed to detect deviations of neighboring observations from randomness when the dataset consists of time series observations. Simulation results and a comparison with Lo and MacKinlay's (1988 Lo, A. W. and MacKinlay, A. C. 1988. Stock market prices do not follow random walks: Evidence from a simple specification test. The Review of Financial Studies, 1: 41–66. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) variance ratio test showed that our proposed test is a competitive alternative.     

On extreme order statistics from heterogeneous beta distributions with applications

This paper treats the problem of stochastic comparisons for the extreme order statistics arising from heterogeneous beta distributions. Some sufficient conditions involved in majorization-type partial orders are provided for comparing the extreme order statistics in the sense of various magnitude orderings including the likelihood ratio order, the reversed hazard rate order, the usual stochastic order, and the usual multivariate stochastic order. The results established here strengthen and extend those including Kochar and Xu (2007 Kochar, S.C., Xu, M. (2007). Stochastic comparisons of parallel systems when components have proportional hazard rates. Probab. Eng. Inf. Sci. 21:597–609.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Mao and Hu (2010 Mao, T., Hu, T. (2010). Equivalent characterizations on orderings of order statistics and sample ranges. Probab. Eng. Inf. Sci. 24:245–262.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Balakrishnan et al. (2014 Balakrishnan, N., Barmalzan, G., Haidari, A. (2014). On usual multivariate stochastic ordering of order statistics from heterogeneous beta variables. J. Multivariate Anal. 127:147–150.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and Torrado (2015 Torrado, N. (2015). On magnitude orderings between smallest order statistics from heterogeneous beta distributions. J. Math. Anal. Appl. 426:824–838.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). A real application in system assembly and some numerical examples are also presented to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Interaction Terms in Distance-Based Regression

We propose a method of including polynomial and interaction terms in Distance-Based Regression (Cuadras and Arenas, 1990 Cuadras , C. M. , Arenas , C. ( 1990 ). A distance based regression model for prediction with mixed data . Commun. Statist. A Theor. Meth. 19 : 2261 – 2279 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), relying on properties of a semi-Hadamard or Khatri-Rao product of matrices. We demonstrate its application to real data examples.     

A Simple Corrected Score for Logistic Regression with Errors-in-Covariates

We develop a simple corrected score for logistic regression with errors-in-covariates. The new method is an extension of the consistent functional methods proposed by Huang and Wang (2001) and is closely related to the corrected score method by Nakamura (1990 Nakamura, T. (1990). Corrected score function for errors-in-variables models: Methodology and application to generalized linear models. Biometrika. 77:127–137.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Stefanski (1989 Stefanski, L.A. (1989). Unbiased estimation of a nonlinear function a normal mean with application to measurement error models. Commun. Stat. Ser. A - Theory Methods. 18:4335–4358.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The new method requires that the measurement error distribution is known, but does not require normality. The new method yields a consistent and asymptotically normal estimator under regularity conditions. We examine the finite-sample performance of the new estimator through simulation studies. Finally, we illustrate the new method by applying it to an AIDS study.     

A Bayesian Approach for Nonlinear Regression Models with Continuous Errors

Abstract

In this paper we develop a Bayesian analysis for the nonlinear regression model with errors that follow a continuous autoregressive process. In this way, unequally spaced observations do not present a problem in the analysis. We employ the Gibbs sampler, (see Gelfand, A., Smith, A. (1990 Gelfand, A. and Smith, A. 1990. Sampling based approaches to calculating marginal densities. J. Amer. Statist. Assoc., 85: 398–409. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Sampling based approaches to calculating marginal densities. J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 85:398–409.), as the foundation for making Bayesian inferences. We illustrate these Bayesian inferences with an analysis of a real data-set. Using these same data, we contrast the Bayesian approach with a generalized least squares technique.     

A variance shift model for detection of outliers in the linear mixed measurement error models

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we extend a variance shift model, previously considered in the linear mixed models, to the linear mixed measurement error models using the corrected likelihood of Nakamura (1990 Nakamura, T. (1990). Corrected score function for errors in variables models: methodology and application to generalized linear models. Biometrika 77:127–137.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This model assumes that a single outlier arises from an observation with inflated variance. We derive the score test and the analogue of the likelihood ratio test, to assess whether the ith observation has inflated variance. A parametric bootstrap procedure is implemented to obtain empirical distributions of the test statistics. Finally, results of a simulation study and an example of real data are presented to illustrate the performance of proposed tests.     

A tool to facilitate the production of control charts within a spreadsheet

Abstract

The adoption of control charts can be traced to the classic text by Shewhart (1931 Shewhart, W. A. 1931. Economic control of quality of manufactured product. London: Macmillan. ISBN: 1614278115. [Google Scholar]) and championed by many writers since then, including Deming (1982 Deming, W. E. 1982. Out of the crisis: Quality, productivity and competitive position. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 0521305535. [Google Scholar]). Numerous other texts and publications stress the continuing importance of this area. While tables of key Shewhart control chart parameters are extremely useful they are easily lost or mislaid and can sometimes be difficult to interpret. To address this issue spreadsheet code is implemented to produce all the key control chart factors.     

Bimodal symmetric-asymmetric power-normal families

This article proposes new symmetric and asymmetric distributions applying methods analogous as the ones in Kim (2005 Kim, H.J. (2005). On a class of two-piece skew-normal distributions. Statist.: J. Theoret. Appl. Statist. 39:537–553.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Arnold et al. (2009 Arnold, B.C., H.W. Gómez, and H.S. Salinas. (2009). On multiple constraint skewed models. Statist. J. Theoret. Appl. Statist. 43: 279–293.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to the exponentiated normal distribution studied in Durrans (1992 Durrans, S.R. (1992). Distributions of fractional order statistics in hydrology. Water Resour. Res. 28:1649–1655.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), that we call the power-normal (PN) distribution. The proposed bimodal extension, the main focus of the paper, is called the bimodal power-normal model and is denoted by BPN(α) model, where α is the asymmetry parameter. The authors give some properties including moments and maximum likelihood estimation. Two important features of the model proposed is that its normalizing constant has closed and simple form and that the Fisher information matrix is nonsingular, guaranteeing large sample properties of the maximum likelihood estimators. Finally, simulation studies and real applications reveal that the proposed model can perform well in both situations.     

Performance Evaluation of Different Tests for Location Parameters

In this article, our objective is to evaluate the performance of different tests which are used to compare the equality of more than two location parameters. We have considered six tests (including some commonly used) in this study, one of which is parametric and the others are nonparametric. These tests include the usual F test (Fisher and Mackenzie, 1923 Fisher , R. A. , Mackenzie , M. A. ( 1923 ). Studies in crop variation. II. The manurial response of different potato . Journal of Agricultural Science 13 : 311 – 320 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Kruskal–Wallis test (Kruskall and Wallis, 1952 Kruskall , W. H. , Wallis , W. A. ( 1952 ). Use of ranks in one-criterion variance analysis . Journal of American Statistical Association 47 : 583 – 621 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Kolmogorov–Smirnov test (David, 1958 David , H. T. ( 1958 ). Three-sample Kolnogorov–Smirnov test . The Annals of Mathematical Statistics 29 : 842 – 851 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), the g test (Stekler, 1987 Stekler , H. O. ( 1987 ). Who forecasters better? Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 5 : 155 – 158 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), f test (Batchelor, 1990 Batchelor , R. A. ( 1990 ). All forecasters are equal . Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 8 : 143 – 144 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and Extension of Median test (as given in Daniel, 1990 Daniel , W. W. ( 1990 ). Applied Nonparametric Statistics. , 2nd ed. Duxbury Classic Series , Boston . [Google Scholar]). Performance of these tests are compared under different symmetric, skewed and contaminated probability distributions that include Normal, Cauchy, Uniform, Laplace, Lognormal, Exponential, Weibull, Gamma, t, Chi-square, Half Normal, Mixed Weibull, and Mixed Normal. Performances of these tests are measured in terms of power. We have suggested appropriate tests which may perform better under different situations. It is expected that researchers will find these results useful in decision making.     

Darling-Erdös-type test for change detection in parameters and variance for stationary VAR models

The aim of this article is the construction of the test statistic for the detection of changes in vector autoregressive (AR) models where both AR parameters and the variance matrix of the error term are the subjects of a change. The approximating distribution of the proposed statistic is the Gumbel distribution. The proof stands on the approximation of weakly dependent random vectors by independent ones and by application of Horváth’s extension of Darling-Erdös extremal result for random vectors, see Darling and Erdös (1956) Darling, D.A., Erdös, P. (1956). A limit theorem for the maximum of normalized sums of independent random variables. Duke Math. J. 23:143–155.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and Horváth (1993) Horváth, L. (1993). The maximum likelihood method for testing changes in the parameters of normal observations. Ann. Stat. 21(2):671–680.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. The test statistic is a modification of the likelihood ratio.     

MSE Performance of a Heterogeneous Pre-Test Ridge Regression Estimator

This article describes how diagnostic procedures were derived for symmetrical nonlinear regression models, continuing the work carried out by Cysneiros and Vanegas (2008 Cysneiros , F. J. A. , Vanegas , L. H. ( 2008 ). Residuals and their statistical properties in symmetrical nonlinear models . Statist. Probab. Lett. 78 : 3269 – 3273 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Vanegas and Cysneiros (2010 Vanegas , L. H. , Cysneiros , F. J. A. ( 2010 ). Assesment of diagnostic procedures in symmetrical nonlinear regression models . Computat. Statist. Data Anal. 54 : 1002 – 1016 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), who showed that the parameters estimates in nonlinear models are more robust with heavy-tailed than with normal errors. In this article, we focus on assessing if the robustness of this kind of models is also observed in the inference process (i.e., partial F-test). Symmetrical nonlinear regression models includes all symmetric continuous distributions for errors covering both light- and heavy-tailed distributions such as Student-t, logistic-I and -II, power exponential, generalized Student-t, generalized logistic, and contaminated normal. Firstly, a statistical test is shown to evaluating the assumption that the error terms all have equal variance. The results of simulation studies which describe the behavior of the test for heteroscedasticity proposed in the presence of outliers are then given. To assess the robustness of inference process, we present the results of a simulation study which described the behavior of partial F-test in the presence of outliers. Also, some diagnostic procedures are derived to identify influential observations on the partial F-test. As ilustration, a dataset described in Venables and Ripley (2002 Venables , W. N. , Ripley , B. D. ( 2002 ). Modern Applied with S. , 4th ed. New York : Springer .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]), is also analyzed.