Simulation-Based Tests that Can Use Any Number of Simulations

Conventional procedures for Monte Carlo and bootstrap tests require that B, the number of simulations, satisfy a specific relationship with the level of the test. Otherwise, a test that would instead be exact will either overreject or underreject for finite B. We present expressions for the rejection frequencies associated with existing procedures and propose a new procedure that yields exact Monte Carlo tests for any positive value of B. This procedure, which can also be used for bootstrap tests, is likely to be most useful when simulation is expensive.     

Monte carlo sampling approach to testing nonnested hypothesis: monte carlo results

Alternative ways of using Monte Carlo methods to implement a Cox-type test for separate families of hypotheses are considered. Monte Carlo experiments are designed to compare the finite sample performances of Pesaran and Pesaran's test, a RESET test, and two Monte Carlo hypothesis test procedures. One of the Monte Carlo tests is based on the distribution of the log-likelihood ratio and the other is based on an asymptotically pivotal statistic. The Monte Carlo results provide strong evidence that the size of the Pesaran and Pesaran test is generally incorrect, except for very large sample sizes. The RESET test has lower power than the other tests. The two Monte Carlo tests perform equally well for all sample sizes and are both clearly preferred to the Pesaran and Pesaran test, even in large samples. Since the Monte Carlo test based on the log-likelihood ratio is the simplest to calculate, we recommend using it.     

Tests for the multivariate two-sample problem based on empirical probability measures

Nonparametric tests are proposed for the equality of two unknown p-variate distributions. Empirical probability measures are defined from samples from the two distributions and used to construct test statistics as the supremum of the absolute differences between empirical probabilities, the supremum being taken over all possible events. The test statistics are truly multivariate in not requiring the artificial ranking of multivariate observations, and they are distribution-free in the general p-variate case. Asymptotic null distributions are obtained. Powers of the proposed tests and a competitor are examined by Monte Carlo techniques.     

Wild-bootstrapped variance-ratio test for autocorrelation in the presence of heteroskedasticity

The Breusch–Godfrey LM test is one of the most popular tests for autocorrelation. However, it has been shown that the LM test may be erroneous when there exist heteroskedastic errors in a regression model. Recently, remedies have been proposed by Godfrey and Tremayne [9] and Shim et al. [21]. This paper suggests three wild-bootstrapped variance-ratio (WB-VR) tests for autocorrelation in the presence of heteroskedasticity. We show through a Monte Carlo simulation that our WB-VR tests have better small sample properties and are robust to the structure of heteroskedasticity.     

Testing Inference in Inflated Beta Regressions under Model Misspecification

We consider testing inference in inflated beta regressions subject to model misspecification. In particular, quasi-z tests based on sandwich covariance matrix estimators are described and their finite sample behavior is investigated via Monte Carlo simulations. The numerical evidence shows that quasi-z testing inference can be considerably more accurate than inference made through the usual z tests, especially when there is model misspecification. Interval estimation is also considered. We also present an empirical application that uses real (not simulated) data.     

Asymptotic properties of the score test for varying dispersion in exponential family nonlinear models

Wei et al. [B.C. Wei, J.Q. Shi, W.K. Fung, and Y.Q. Hu, Testing for varying dispersion in exponential family nonlinear models, Ann. Inst. Statist. Math. 50 (1998), pp. 277–294.] developed the score diagnostics for varying dispersion in exponential family nonlinear models, such as the normal, inverse Gaussian, and gamma models, and investigated the powers of these tests through Monte Carlo simulations. In this paper, the asymptotic behaviours, including asymptotic chi-square and approximate powers under local alternatives of the score tests, are studied and examined by Monte Carlo simulations. The methods to estimate local powers of the score tests are illustrated with Grass yield data [P. McCullagh, and J.A. Nelder, Generalized Linear Models, Chapman and Hall, London (1989).].     

On the power of the t-test and some rank tests when outliers may be present

The power of some rank tests, used for testing the hypothesis of shift, is found when the underlying distributions contain outliers. The outliers are assumed to occur as the result of mixing two normal distributions with common variance. A small sample case shows how the scores for the rank tests are found and the exact power is computed for each of these rank tests. A Monte Carlo study provides an estimate of the power of the usual two sample t-test.     

Computing Critical Values of Exact Tests by Incorporating Monte Carlo Simulations Combined with Statistical Tables

Various exact tests for statistical inference are available for powerful and accurate decision rules provided that corresponding critical values are tabulated or evaluated via Monte Carlo methods. This article introduces a novel hybrid method for computing p‐values of exact tests by combining Monte Carlo simulations and statistical tables generated a priori. To use the data from Monte Carlo generations and tabulated critical values jointly, we employ kernel density estimation within Bayesian‐type procedures. The p‐values are linked to the posterior means of quantiles. In this framework, we present relevant information from the Monte Carlo experiments via likelihood‐type functions, whereas tabulated critical values are used to reflect prior distributions. The local maximum likelihood technique is employed to compute functional forms of prior distributions from statistical tables. Empirical likelihood functions are proposed to replace parametric likelihood functions within the structure of the posterior mean calculations to provide a Bayesian‐type procedure with a distribution‐free set of assumptions. We derive the asymptotic properties of the proposed nonparametric posterior means of quantiles process. Using the theoretical propositions, we calculate the minimum number of needed Monte Carlo resamples for desired level of accuracy on the basis of distances between actual data characteristics (e.g. sample sizes) and characteristics of data used to present corresponding critical values in a table. The proposed approach makes practical applications of exact tests simple and rapid. Implementations of the proposed technique are easily carried out via the recently developed STATA and R statistical packages.     

A Metropolis algorithm to obtain co-sufficient samples with applications in conditional tests

ABSTRACT

Conditional tests are constructed by conditioning a fit measure to a minimal sufficient statistic. To calculate the p-value of these tests, Monte Carlo methods with co-sufficient samples can be used. In this paper we show how to simulate co-sufficient samples when the data distribution belongs to the exponential family with doubly transitive sufficient statistics. The proposed method is illustrated using the beta distribution.     

Non Null Asymptotic Distributions of Some Criteria in Censored Exponential Regression

In this article, we consider the class of censored exponential regression models which is very useful for modeling lifetime data. Under a sequence of Pitman alternatives, the asymptotic expansions up to order n^{? 1/2} of the non null distribution functions of the likelihood ratio, Wald, Rao score, and gradient statistics are derive in this class of models. The non null asymptotic distribution functions of these statistics are obtained for testing a composite null hypothesis in the presence of nuisance parameters. The power of all four tests, which are equivalent to first order, are compared based on these non null asymptotic expansions. Furthermore, in order to compare the finite-sample performance of these tests in this class of models, we consider Monte Carlo simulations. We also present an empirical application for illustrative purposes.     

Heteroscedasticity diagnostics in two-phase linear regression models

In two-phase linear regression models, it is a standard assumption that the random errors of two phases have constant variances. However, this assumption is not necessarily appropriate. This paper is devoted to the tests for variance heterogeneity in these models. We initially discuss the simultaneous test for variance heterogeneity of two phases. When the simultaneous test shows that significant heteroscedasticity occurs in the whole model, we construct two individual tests to investigate whether or not both phases or one of them have/has significant heteroscedasticity. Several score statistics and their adjustments based on Cox and Reid [D. R. Cox and N. Reid, Parameter orthogonality and approximate conditional inference. J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B 49 (1987), pp. 1–39] are obtained and illustrated with Australian onion data. The simulated powers of test statistics are investigated through Monte Carlo methods.     

Small sample performance of large sample tests for tobit versus p -tobit

Large sample tests for the standard To bit model versus the ^p -Tobit model by Deaton and Irish (1984) are studied. The normalized one-tailed score test by Deaton and Irish (1984) is shown to be a version of Neyman's C(α) test that is valid for the non-standard problem of the null hypothesis lying on the boundary of the parameter space. Then, this paper reports the results of Monte Carlo experiments designed to study the small sample performance of large sample tests for the standard Tobit specification versus the ^p -Tobit specification.     

Tests of heteroscedasticity and correlation in multivariate t regression models with AR and ARMA errors

Heteroscedasticity checking in regression analysis plays an important role in modelling. It is of great interest when random errors are correlated, including autocorrelated and partial autocorrelated errors. In this paper, we consider multivariate t linear regression models, and construct the score test for the case of AR(1) errors, and ARMA(s,d) errors. The asymptotic properties, including asymptotic chi-square and approximate powers under local alternatives of the score tests, are studied. Based on modified profile likelihood, the adjusted score test is also developed. The finite sample performance of the tests is investigated through Monte Carlo simulations, and also the tests are illustrated with two real data sets.     

Monte carlo results for conditional survival tests under randomly censored data

Within a Monte Carlo study finite sample results are obtained for different generalized rank tests based on randomly censored life time data. It is pointed out that conditional tests should be applied in practice whenever drastic differences between the censoring distributions for the underlying groups do not appear. The tests are slight modifications of known permutation tests for censored data.     

Nonnull asymptotic distributions of the LR,Wald, score and gradient statistics in generalized linear models with dispersion covariates

The class of generalized linear models with dispersion covariates, which allows us to jointly model the mean and dispersion parameters, is a natural extension to the classical generalized linear models. In this paper, we derive the asymptotic expansions under a sequence of Pitman alternatives (up to order n ^?1/2) for the nonnull distribution functions of the likelihood ratio, Wald, Rao score and gradient statistics in this class of models. The asymptotic distributions of these statistics are obtained for testing a subset of regression parameters and for testing a subset of dispersion parameters. Based on these nonnull asymptotic expansions, the power of all four tests, which are equivalent to first order, are compared. Furthermore, we consider Monte Carlo simulations in order to compare the finite-sample performance of these tests in this class of models. We present two empirical applications to two real data sets for illustrative purposes.     

Likelihood ratio test for simultaneous testing of the mean and the variance of a normal distribution

In this paper, we consider the simultaneous testing of the mean and the variance of a normal distribution. The exact distribution of the likelihood ratio test statistic is obtained, which is not available in the literature. The critical points of the exact test are reported. We also consider some of the other exact and asymptotic tests. The powers of these tests are compared using the Monte Carlo simulations.     

Testing for spherical symmetry via the empirical characteristic function

Kolmogorov–Smirnov-type and Cramér–von Mises-type goodness-of-fit tests are proposed for the null hypothesis that the distribution of a random vector X is spherically symmetric. The test statistics utilize the fact that X has a spherical symmetric distribution if, and only if, the characteristic function of X is constant over surfaces of spheres centred at the origin. Both tests come in convenient forms that are straightforwardly applicable with the computer. The asymptotic null distribution of the test statistics as well as the consistency of the tests is investigated under general conditions. Since both the finite sample and the asymptotic null distribution depend on the unknown distribution of the Euclidean norm of X, a conditional Monte Carlo procedure is used to actually carry out the tests. Results on the behaviour of the test in finite-samples are included along with a real-data example.     

An adaptive test for the one-way layout

An adaptive test is proposed for the one-way layout. This test procedure uses the order statistics of the combined data to obtain estimates of percentiles, which are used to select an appropriate set of rank scores for the one-way test statistic. This test is designed to have reasonably high power over a range of distributions. The adaptive procedure proposed for a one-way layout is a generalization of an existing two-sample adaptive test procedure. In this Monte Carlo study, the power and significance level of the F-test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, the normal scores test, and the adaptive test were evaluated for the one-way layout. All tests maintained their significance level for data sets having at least 24 observations. The simulation results show that the adaptive test is more powerful than the other tests for skewed distributions if the total number of observations equals or exceeds 24. For data sets having at least 60 observations the adaptive test is also more powerful than the F-test for some symmetric distributions.     

Permutation tests for homogeneity based on some characterizations

In this work, non parametric tests are proposed for testing the homogeneity of two or more populations. The tests are based on recently obtained characterizations. The test procedure is based on the permutation bootstrap technique. For the two-sample case the new tests are compared with permutation tests based on the empirical characteristic function and some other tests. The comparison is fulfilled via a Monte Carlo simulation.     

Bayesian and Classical Approaches for Hypotheses Testing in Trisomies

We introduce classical approaches for testing hypotheses on the meiosis I non disjunction fraction in trisomies, such as the likelihood-ratio, bootstrap, and Monte Carlo procedures. To calculate the p-values for the bootstrap and Monte Carlo procedures, different transformations in the data are considered. Bootstrap confidence intervals are also used as a tool to perform hypotheses tests. A Monte Carlo study is carried out to compare the proposed test procedures with two Bayesian ones: Jeffreys and Pereira-Stern tests. The results show that the likelihood-ratio and the Bayesian tests present the best performance. Down syndrome data are analyzed to illustrate the procedures.