Constrained Bayes and empirical Bayes estimation under random effects normal ANOVA model with balanced loss function

The paper develops constrained Bayes and empirical Bayes estimators in the random effects ANOVA model under balanced loss functions. In the balanced normal–normal model, estimators of the Bayes risks of the constrained Bayes and constrained empirical Bayes estimators are provided which are correct asymptotically up to O(m^-1)$\mathrm{O}(m^{-1})$, that is the remainder term is o(m^-1)$\mathrm{o}(m^{-1})$, m$m$ denoting the number of strata.     

Empirical Bayes estimation in finite population sampling under functional measurement error models

The paper considers simultaneous estimation of finite population means for several strata. A model-based approach is taken, where the covariates in the super-population model are subject to measurement errors. Empirical Bayes (EB) estimators of the strata means are developed and an asymptotic expression for the MSE of the EB estimators is provided. It is shown that the proposed EB estimators are “first order optimal” in the sense of Robbins [1956. An empirical Bayes approach to statistics. In: Proceedings of the Third Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability, vol. 1, University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 157–164], while the regular EB estimators which ignore the measurement error are not.     

Empirical Bayes sequential estimation of a finite population mean

In this article, we consider the Bayes and empirical Bayes problem of the current population mean of a finite population when the sample data is available from other similar (m-1) finite populations. We investigate a general class of linear estimators and obtain the optimal linear Bayes estimator of the finite population mean under a squared error loss function that considered the cost of sampling. The optimal linear Bayes estimator and the sample size are obtained as a function of the parameters of the prior distribution. The corresponding empirical Bayes estimates are obtained by replacing the unknown hyperparameters with their respective consistent estimates. A Monte Carlo study is conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed empirical Bayes procedure.     

Nonparametric Bayes estimation of gap-time distribution with recurrent event data

Nonparametric Bayes (NPB) estimation of the gap-time survivor function governing the time to occurrence of a recurrent event in the presence of censoring is considered. In our Bayesian approach, the gap-time distribution, denoted by F, has a Dirichlet process prior with parameter α. We derive NPB and nonparametric empirical Bayes (NPEB) estimators of the survivor function F?=1?F and construct point-wise credible intervals. The resulting Bayes estimator of F? extends that based on single-event right-censored data, and the PL-type estimator is a limiting case of this Bayes estimator. Through simulation studies, we demonstrate that the PL-type estimator has smaller biases but higher root-mean-squared errors (RMSEs) than those of the NPB and the NPEB estimators. Even in the case of a mis-specified prior measure parameter α, the NPB and the NPEB estimators have smaller RMSEs than the PL-type estimator, indicating robustness of the NPB and NPEB estimators. In addition, the NPB and NPEB estimators are smoother (in some sense) than the PL-type estimator.     

BAYES EMPIRICAL BAYES APPROACH TO ESTIMATION OF THE FAILURE RATE IN EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION

ABSTRACT

In the empirical Bayes (EB) decision problem consisting of squared error estimation of the failure rate in exponential distribution, a prior Λ is placed on the gamma family of prior distributions to produce Bayes EB estimators which are admissible. A subclass of such estimators is shown to be asymptotically optimal (a.o.). The results of a Monte Carlo study are presented to demonstrate the a.o. property of the Bayes EB estimators.     

Empirical Bayes estimation in continuous one-parameter exponential families under associated samples

In this paper, we study the empirical Bayes (EB) estimation in continuous one-parameter exponential families under negatively associated (NA) samples and positively associated (PA) samples. Under certain regularity conditions, it is shown that the convergence rates of proposed EB estimators under NA or PA samples are the same as those of EB estimators under independent observations, which significantly improve the existing results in EB estimation under associated samples.     

Bayes Estimation of Shift Point in Normal Sequence and Its Application to Statistical Process Control

A sequence of independent observations X ₁, X ₂, …, X _m , X _m+1, …, X _n was observed on some measurable characteristic X in statistical process control. The shift in process mean is reflected in the sequence after X _m . The Bayes estimators of shift point m, and past and future process means, μ₁ and μ₂, are derived using various priors and loss functions. An application in statistical process control is given and a simulation study of the estimators is carried out.     

Empirical Bayes Estimation of Small Area Means under a Nested Error Linear Regression Model with Measurement Errors in the Covariates

Abstract.  Previously, small area estimation under a nested error linear regression model was studied with area level covariates subject to measurement error. However, the information on observed covariates was not used in finding the Bayes predictor of a small area mean. In this paper, we first derive the fully efficient Bayes predictor by utilizing all the available data. We then estimate the regression and variance component parameters in the model to get an empirical Bayes (EB) predictor and show that the EB predictor is asymptotically optimal. In addition, we employ the jackknife method to obtain an estimator of mean squared prediction error (MSPE) of the EB predictor. Finally, we report the results of a simulation study on the performance of our EB predictor and associated jackknife MSPE estimators. Our results show that the proposed EB predictor can lead to significant gain in efficiency over the previously proposed EB predictor.     

Pseudo-Bayes and pseudo-empirical Bayes estimators in randomized response sampling

In this article, new pseudo-Bayes and pseudo-empirical Bayes estimators for estimating the proportion of a potentially sensitive attribute in a survey sampling have been introduced. The proposed estimators are compared with the recent estimator proposed by Odumade and Singh [Efficient use of two decks of cards in randomized response sampling, Comm. Statist. Theory Methods 38 (2009), pp. 439–446] and Warner [Randomized response: A survey technique for eliminating evasive answer bias, J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 60 (1965), pp. 63–69].     

Robust empirical Bayes tests for continuous distributions

In this paper, we study the empirical Bayes two-action problem under linear loss function. Upper bounds on the regret of empirical Bayes testing rules are investigated. Previous results on this problem construct empirical Bayes tests using kernel type estimators of nonparametric functionals. Further, they have assumed specific forms, such as the continuous one-parameter exponential family for {F_θ:θΩ}, for the family of distributions of the observations. In this paper, we present a new general approach of establishing upper bounds (in terms of rate of convergence) of empirical Bayes tests for this problem. Our results are given for any family of continuous distributions and apply to empirical Bayes tests based on any type of nonparametric method of functional estimation. We show that our bounds are very sharp in the sense that they reduce to existing optimal or nearly optimal rates of convergence when applied to specific families of distributions.     

Bayes minimax ridge regression estimators

The problem of estimating of the vector β of the linear regression model y = Aβ + ? with ? ～ N_p(0, σ²I_p) under quadratic loss function is considered when common variance σ² is unknown. We first find a class of minimax estimators for this problem which extends a class given by Maruyama and Strawderman (2005 Maruyama, Y., and W. E. Strawderman. 2005. A new class of generalized Bayes minimax ridge regression estimators. Annals of Statistics 33:1753–70.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and using these estimators, we obtain a large class of (proper and generalized) Bayes minimax estimators and show that the result of Maruyama and Strawderman (2005 Maruyama, Y., and W. E. Strawderman. 2005. A new class of generalized Bayes minimax ridge regression estimators. Annals of Statistics 33:1753–70.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) is a special case of our result. We also show that under certain conditions, these generalized Bayes minimax estimators have greater numerical stability (i.e., smaller condition number) than the least-squares estimator.     

Convergence Rates of Empirical Bayes Estimation for the Parameter of the Uniform Distribution U(0, θ) Under Random Censorship

ABSTRACT

This article considers the empirical Bayes estimation problem in the uniform distribution U(0, θ) with censored data. For the parameter θ, using the empirical Bayes (EB) approach, we propose an EB estimation of θ which possesses a rate of convergence can be arbitrarily close to O(n ^?1/2) when the historical samples are randomly censored from the right, where n is the number of historical sample. A sample and some simulation results are also presented.     

Bayes and Empirical Bayes Estimation of the Parameter n in a Binomial Distribution

The problem of estimating the total number of trials n in a binomial distribution is reconsidered in this article for both cases of known and unknown probability of success p from the Bayesian viewpoint. Bayes and empirical Bayes point estimates for n are proposed under the assumption of a left-truncated prior distribution for n and a beta prior distribution for p. Simulation studies are provided in this article in order to compare the proposed estimate with the most familiar n estimates.     

Bayes and admissibility properties of estimators in truncated parameter spaces

For the problem of estimating a parameter θ when θ is known to lie in a closed, convex subset D of R^k, conditions are given under which estimators δ of θ cannot be Bayes estimators, as well as conditions under which δ is inadmissible. The estimators considered are so-called “boundary estimators”. Maximum-likelihood estimators in truncated parameter spaces are examples to which our results often apply. For the special case when k = 1 and D is compact, two classes of estimators dominating the inadmissible ones are constructed. Some examples are given.     

Bernstein-von Mises theorem and Bayes estimation from single server queues

Abstract

In this paper, we prove the Bernstein-von Mises theorem for the GI∕G∕1 queueing system which is observed over a continuous time interval (0, T], where T is a suitable stopping time. And also the asymptotic properties of Bayes estimators of the parameters are investigated.     

Adaptive nonparametric empirical Bayes estimation via wavelet series: The minimax study

In the present paper, we derive lower bounds for the risk of the nonparametric empirical Bayes estimators. In order to attain the optimal convergence rate, we propose generalization of the linear empirical Bayes estimation method which takes advantage of the flexibility of the wavelet techniques. We present an empirical Bayes estimator as a wavelet series expansion and estimate coefficients by minimizing the prior risk of the estimator. As a result, estimation of wavelet coefficients requires solution of a well-posed low-dimensional sparse system of linear equations. The dimension of the system depends on the size of wavelet support and smoothness of the Bayes estimator. An adaptive choice of the resolution level is carried out using Lepski et al. (1997) method. The method is computationally efficient and provides asymptotically optimal adaptive EB estimators. The theory is supplemented by numerous examples.     

Reliability Characteristics of the Maxwell Distribution: A Bayes Estimation Study

ABSTRACT

This article presents maximum likelihood, Bayes, and empirical Bayes estimators of the truncated first moment and hazard function of the Maxwell distribution. A comparison of the relative efficiency of these three estimators is performed via a Monte Carlo simulation study.     

Multivariate limited translation empirical Bayes estimators

The paper develops multivariate limited translation empirical Bayes estimators of the normal mean vector which serve as a compromise between the empirical Bayes and the maximum likelihood estimators. These compromise estimators perform better than the regular empirical Bayes estimators, in a frequentist sense, when there is wide departure of an individual observation from the grand average.     

On empirical Bayes estimation of variance components in random effects model

In this paper, Bayes estimators of variance components are derived for the one-way random effects model, and empirical Bayes (EB) estimators are constructed by the kernel estimation method of a multivariate density and its mixed partial derivatives. It is shown that the EB estimators are asymptotically optimal and convergence rates are established. Finally, an example concerning the main results is given.     

On the Bayesian Estimation for the Uniform Scale Parameter via a Functional Equation

Bayes uniform model under the squared error loss function is shown to be completely identifiable by the form of the Bayes estimates of the scale parameter. This results in solving a specific functional equation. A complete characterization of differentiable Bayes estimators (BE) and generalized Bayes estimators (GBE) is given as well as relations between degrees of smoothness of the estimators and the priors. Characterizations of strong (generalized Bayes) Bayes sequence (SBS or SGBS) are also investigated. A SBS is a sequence of estimators (one for each sample size) where all its components are BE generated by the same prior measure. A complete solution is given for polynomial Bayesian estimation.