Guaranteed Local Maximum Likelihood Detection of a Change Point in Nonparametric Logistic Regression

We consider nonparametric logistic regression and propose a generalized likelihood test for detecting a threshold effect that indicates a relationship between some risk factor and a defined outcome above the threshold but none below it. One important field of application is occupational medicine and in particular, epidemiological studies. In epidemiological studies, segmented fully parametric logistic regression models are often threshold models, where it is assumed that the exposure has no influence on a response up to a possible unknown threshold, and has an effect beyond that threshold. Finding efficient methods for detection and estimation of a threshold is a very important task in these studies. This article proposes such methods in a context of nonparametric logistic regression. We use a local version of unknown likelihood functions and show that under rather common assumptions the asymptotic power of our test is one. We present a guaranteed non asymptotic upper bound for the significance level of the proposed test. If applying the test yields the acceptance of the conclusion that there was a change point (and hence a threshold limit value), we suggest using the local maximum likelihood estimator of the change point and consider the asymptotic properties of this estimator.     

Semiparametric analysis of transformation models with doubly censored data

Double censoring arises when T represents an outcome variable that can only be accurately measured within a certain range, [L, U], where L and U are the left- and right-censoring variables, respectively. In this note, using Martingale arguments of Chen et al. [3 Chen, K., Jin, Z. and Ying, Z. 2002. Semiparametric analysis of transformation models with censored data. Biometrika, 89: 659–668. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]], we propose an estimator (denoted by ?β) for estimating regression coefficients of transformation model when L is always observed. Under Cox proportional hazards model, the proposed estimator is equivalent to the partial likelihood estimator for left-truncated and right-censored data if the left-censoring variables L were regarded as left-truncated variables. In this case, the estimator ?β can be obtained by the standard software. A simulation study is conducted to investigate the performance of ?β. For the purpose of comparison, the simulation study also includes the estimator proposed by Cai and Cheng [2 Cai, T. and Cheng, S. 2004. Semiparametric regression analysis for doubly censored data. Biometrika, 91: 277–290. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]] for the case when L and U are always observed.     

The Equality of the Ordinary Least Squares Estimator and the Best Linear Unbiased Estimator

It is well known that the ordinary least squares estimator of Xβ in the general linear model E _y = Xβ, cov y = σ² V, can be the best linear unbiased estimator even if V is not a multiple of the identity matrix. This article presents, in a historical perspective, the development of the several conditions for the ordinary least squares estimator to be best linear unbiased. Various characterizations of these conditions, using generalized inverses and orthogonal projectors, along with several examples, are also given. In addition, a complete set of references is provided.     

Limit behaviors of the estimator of nonparametric regression model based on martingale difference errors

In the paper, we shall establish some limit theorems for the nonparametric estimator of the regression model, which include $L^p$-convergence, complete convergence, and strong convergence of the estimator. These results supplement and improve some known works.     

On the predictive performance of the almost unbiased Liu estimator

ABSTRACT

Regression models are usually used in forecasting (predicting) unknown values of the response variable y. This article considers the predictive performance of the almost unbiased Liu estimator compared to the ordinary least-squares estimator, principal component regression estimator, and Liu estimator. Finally, we present a numerical example to explain the theoretical results and we obtain a region where the almost unbiased Liu estimator is uniformly superior to the ordinary least-squares estimator, principal component regression estimator, and Liu estimator.     

A note on the asymptotic relative efficiency of estimators from the additive hazards model

In this note, the asymptotic variance formulas are explicitly derived and compared between the parametric and semiparametric estimators of a regression parameter and survival probability under the additive hazards model. To obtain explicit formulas, it is assumed that the covariate term including a regression coefficient follows a gamma distribution and the baseline hazard function is constant. The results show that the semiparametric estimator of the regression coefficient parameter is fully efficient relative to the parametric counterpart when the survival time and a covariate are independent, as in the proportional hazards model. Relative to a more realistic case of the parametric additive hazards model with a Weibull baseline, the loss of efficiency of the semiparametric estimator of survival probability is moderate.     

A non stochastic ridge regression estimator and comparison with the James-Stein estimator

Abstract

This article presents a non-stochastic version of the Generalized Ridge Regression estimator that arises from a discussion of the properties of a Generalized Ridge Regression estimator whose shrinkage parameters are found to be close to their upper bounds. The resulting estimator takes the form of a shrinkage estimator that is superior to both the Ordinary Least Squares estimator and the James-Stein estimator under certain conditions. A numerical study is provided to investigate the range of signal to noise ratio under which the new estimator dominates the James-Stein estimator with respect to the prediction mean square error.     

Minimum power-divergence estimator in three-way contingency tables

Cressie et al. (2000; 2003) introduced and studied a new family of statistics, based on the φ-divergence measure, for solving the problem of testing a nested sequence of loglinear models. In that family of test statistics the parameters are estimated using the minimum φ-divergence estimator which is a generalization of the maximum likelihood estimator. In this paper we study the minimum power-divergence estimator (the most important family of minimum φ-divergence estimator) for a nested sequence of loglinear models in three-way contingency tables under assumptions of multinomial sampling. A simulation study illustrates that the minimum chi-squared estimator is simultaneously the most robust and efficient estimator among the family of the minimum power-divergence estimator.     

Bayes and Empirical Bayes Inference in Changepoint Problems

ABSTRACT

In the case of the random design nonparametric regression, the double smoothing technique is applied to estimate the multivariate regression function. The proposed estimator has desirable properties in both the finite sample and the asymptotic cases. In the finite sample case, it has bounded conditional (and unconditional) bias and variance. On the other hand, in the asymptotic case, it has the same mean square error as the local linear estimator in Fan (Design-Adaptive Nonparametric Regression. Journal of the American Statistical Association 1992, 87, 998–1004; Local Linear Regression Smoothers and Their Minimax Efficiencies. Annals of Statistics 1993, 21, 196–216). Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed estimator is better than the local linear estimator, because it has a smaller sample mean integrated square error and gives smoother estimates.     

Estimation of a multivariate normal covariance matrix under a certain structure

We consider the estimation of Σ of the p-dimensional normal distribution N_p (0, Σ) when Σ?=?θ₀ I_p ?+?θ₁ aa′, where a is an unknown p-dimensional normalized vector and θ₀?>?0, θ₁?≥?0 are also unknown. First, we derive the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimator. Second, we propose a new estimator, which dominates the REML estimator with respect to Stein's loss function. Finally, we carry out Monte Carlo simulation to investigate the magnitude of the new estimator's superiority.     

Statistical Analysis of Non Linear Least Squares Estimation for Harmonic Signals in Multiplicative and Additive Noise

Abstract

This article concerns the stochastically constrained linear model under a biased assumption. We propose a quasi-stochastically constrained least squares estimator. Furthermore, we provide the expectation of this estimator, demonstrate its consistency and asymptotic normality. In the end of the article, the simulation study of the new estimator shows that it is superior to the least squares estimator, ridge estimator, and the linear constrained estimators under certain conditions by comparing the mean squared errors of these estimators.     

A Pointwise Estimator for the k-Fold Convolution of a Distribution Function

ABSTRACT

This article is concerned with some parametric and nonparametric estimators for the k-fold convolution of a distribution function. An alternative estimator is proposed and its unbiasedness, asymptotic unbiasedness, and consistency properties are investigated. The asymptotic normality of this estimator is established. Some applications of the estimator are given in renewal processes. Finally, the computational procedures are described and the relative performance of these estimators for small sample sizes is investigated by a simulation study.     

Performance of the almost unbiased ridge-type principal component estimator in logistic regression model

ABSTRACT

This article considers some different parameter estimation methods in logistic regression model. In order to overcome multicollinearity, the almost unbiased ridge-type principal component estimator is proposed. The scalar mean squared error of the proposed estimator is derived and its properties are investigated. Finally, a numerical example and a simulation study are presented to show the performance of the proposed estimator.     

An improved estimation procedure of population mean in two-occasion successive sampling

ABSTRACT

In this paper an attempt to estimate the current population mean in two-occasion successive sampling has been made. A modified regression-type estimator has been proposed. Optimum replacement strategy of the proposed estimator has been formulated. The proposed estimator is compared with sample mean estimator when there is no matching from the previous occasion and the optimum natural successive sampling estimator. Empirical studies are carried out and suitable recommendations have been made.     

Shrinkage estimation of location parameters in a multivariate skew-normal distribution

Abstract

This paper studies decision theoretic properties of Stein type shrinkage estimators in simultaneous estimation of location parameters in a multivariate skew-normal distribution with known skewness parameters under a quadratic loss. The benchmark estimator is the best location equivariant estimator which is minimax. A class of shrinkage estimators improving on the best location equivariant estimator is constructed when the dimension of the location parameters is larger than or equal to four. An empirical Bayes estimator is also derived, and motivated from the Bayesian procedure, we suggest a simple skew-adjusted shrinkage estimator and show its dominance property. The performances of these estimators are investigated by simulation.     

Berry–Esseen type bound of conditional mode estimation under truncation and strong mixing assumptions

ABSTRACT

In order to investigate the convergence rate of the asymptotic normality for the estimator of the conditional mode function for the left-truncation model, we derive a Berry–Esseen type bound of the estimator when the lifetime observations with multivariate covariates form a stationary α-mixing sequence. The finite sample performance of the estimator of the conditional mode function is explored through simulations.     

Positive-rule stein-type almost unbiased ridge estimator in linear regression model

Abstract

In this article, when it is suspected that regression coefficients may be restricted to a subspace, we discuss the parameter estimation of regression coefficients in a multiple regression model. Then, in order to improve the preliminary test almost ridge estimator, we study the positive-rule Stein-type almost unbiased ridge estimator based on the positive-rule stein-type shrinkage estimator and almost unbiased ridge estimator. After that, quadratic bias and quadratic risk values of the new estimator are derived and compared with some relative estimators. And we also discuss the option of parameter k. Finally, we perform a real data example and a Monte Carlo study to illustrate theoretical results.     

A MORE GENERAL CRITERION FOR SUBSET SELECTION IN MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION

ABSTRACT

In this article, we propose a more general criterion called S_p -criterion, for subset selection in the multiple linear regression Model. Many subset selection methods are based on the Least Squares (LS) estimator of β, but whenever the data contain an influential observation or the distribution of the error variable deviates from normality, the LS estimator performs ‘poorly’ and hence a method based on this estimator (for example, Mallows’ C_p -criterion) tends to select a ‘wrong’ subset. The proposed method overcomes this drawback and its main feature is that it can be used with any type of estimator (either the LS estimator or any robust estimator) of β without any need for modification of the proposed criterion. Moreover, this technique is operationally simple to implement as compared to other existing criteria. The method is illustrated with examples.     

A Bayesian Model for Markov Chains via Jeffrey's Prior

Abstract

This work deals with the problem of Bayesian estimation of the transition probabilities associated with multistate Markov chain. The model is based on the Jeffreys' noninformative prior. The Bayesian estimator is approximated by means of MCMC techniques. A numerical study by simulation is done in order to compare the Bayesian estimator with the maximum likelihood estimator.     

The General Expressions for the Moments of the Stochastic Shrinkage Parameters of the Liu Type Estimator

ABSTRACT

One of the problems with the Liu estimator is the appropriate value for the unknown biasing parameter d. In this article we consider the optimum value for d and give upper bound for the expected value of the estimator of this biasing parameter. We also derive the general expressions for the moments of the stochastic shrinkage parameters of the Liu estimator and the generalized Liu estimator. Numerical calculations are carried out to illustrate the behavior of the mean and variance of the biasing parameter. Also, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effect of the biasing parameter d, on the mean square error of the Liu estimator.