Strawderman-type estimators for a scale parameter with application to the exponential distribution

It is shown that Strawderman's [1974. Minimax estimation of powers of the variance of a normal population under squared error loss. Ann. Statist. 2, 190–198] technique for estimating the variance of a normal distribution can be extended to estimating a general scale parameter in the presence of a nuisance parameter. Employing standard monotone likelihood ratio-type conditions, a new class of improved estimators for this scale parameter is derived under quadratic loss. By imposing an additional condition, a broader class of improved estimators is obtained. The dominating procedures are in form analogous to those in Strawderman [1974. Minimax estimation of powers of the variance of a normal population under squared error loss. Ann. Statist. 2, 190–198]. Application of the general results to the exponential distribution yields new sufficient conditions, other than those of Brewster and Zidek [1974. Improving on equivariant estimators. Ann. Statist. 2, 21–38] and Kubokawa [1994. A unified approach to improving equivariant estimators. Ann. Statist. 22, 290–299], for improving the best affine equivariant estimator of the scale parameter. A class of estimators satisfying the new conditions is constructed. The results shed new light on Strawderman's [1974. Minimax estimation of powers of the variance of a normal population under squared error loss. Ann. Statist. 2, 190–198] technique.     

Minimax rules under zero–one loss for a restricted location parameter

In this paper, we obtain minimax and near-minimax nonrandomized decision rules under zero–one loss for a restricted location parameter of an absolutely continuous distribution. Two types of rules are addressed: monotone and nonmonotone. A complete-class theorem is proved for the monotone case. This theorem extends the previous work of Zeytinoglu and Mintz (1984) to the case of 2e-MLR sampling distributions. A class of continuous monotone nondecreasing rules is defined. This class contains the monotone minimax rules developed in this paper. It is shown that each rule in this class is Bayes with respect to nondenumerably many priors. A procedure for generating these priors is presented. Nonmonotone near-minimax almost-equalizer rules are derived for problems characterized by non-2e-MLR distributions. The derivation is based on the evaluation of a distribution-dependent function Q_c. The methodological importance of this function is that it is used to unify the discrete- and continuous-parameter problems, and to obtain a lower bound on the minimax risk for the non-2e-MLR case.     

Confidence intervals for the scale parameter of exponential distribution based on Type II doubly censored samples

This paper deals with the problem of interval estimation of the scale parameter in the two-parameter exponential distribution subject to Type II double censoring. Base on a Type II doubly censored sample, we construct a class of interval estimators of the scale parameter which are better than the shortest length affine equivariant interval both in coverage probability and in length. The procedure can be repeated to make further improvement. The extension of the method leads to a smoothly improved confidence interval which improves the interval length with probability one. All improved intervals belong to the class of scale equivariant intervals.     

Goodness‐of‐Fit Test for Monotone Functions

Abstract. In this article, we develop a test for the null hypothesis that a real‐valued function belongs to a given parametric set against the non‐parametric alternative that it is monotone, say decreasing. The method is described in a general model that covers the monotone density model, the monotone regression and the right‐censoring model with monotone hazard rate. The criterion for testing is an ‐distance between a Grenander‐type non‐parametric estimator and a parametric estimator computed under the null hypothesis. A normalized version of this distance is shown to have an asymptotic normal distribution under the null, whence a test can be developed. Moreover, a bootstrap procedure is shown to be consistent to calibrate the test.     

Estimating the common hazard rate of two exponential distributions with ordered location parameters

This paper is concerned with estimating the common hazard rate of two exponential distributions with unknown and ordered location parameters under a general class of bowl-shaped scale invariant loss functions. The inadmissibility of the best affine equivariant estimator is established by deriving an improved estimator. Another estimator is obtained which improves upon the best affine equivariant estimator. A class of improving estimators is derived using the integral expression of risk difference approach of Kubokawa [A unified approach to improving equivariant estimators. Ann Statist. 1994;22(1):290–299]. These results are applied to specific loss functions. It is further shown that these estimators can be derived for four important sampling schemes: (i) complete and i.i.d. sample, (ii) record values, (iii) type-II censoring, and (iv) progressive Type-II censoring. A simulation study is carried out for numerically comparing the risk performance of these proposed estimators.     

Pitman closest equivariant estimators and predictors under location–scale models

For location, scale and location–scale models, which are common in practical applications, we derive optimum equivariant estimators and predictors using the Pitman closeness criterion. This approach is very robust with respect to the choice of the loss function as it only requires the loss function to be strictly monotone. We also prove that, in general, the Pitman closeness comparison of any two equivariant predictors depends on the unknown parameter only through a maximal invariant, and hence it is independent of the parameter when the parameter space is transitive. We present several examples illustrating applications of our theoretical results.     

Measures of centrality for multivariate and directional distributions

Measures of centrality that generalize the univariate median are studied and applied to multivariate and directional distributions. A standard example is developed for general multivariate settings, and the uniqueness of the median proved for distributions satisfying certain regularity conditions. In the presence of weaker regularity, this median is shown to be of codimension 2. Conditions are also provided for these measures of centrality to be equivariant under transformations on the sample space. The equivariance of the usual univariate median under monotone transformations is seen as a special case.     

A decision-theoretic approach to subset selection

The multiple decision problem of selecting a random non-empty subset of populations, out of k populations, that are close in some sense to the best population is considered in a decision-theoretic framework. Uniformly optimal procedures for non-negative semi-additive loss are derived. A class of likelihood-ratio type of procedures is shown to be admissible for monotone additive loss.     

Shape constrained kernel density estimation

In this paper, a method for estimating monotone, convex and log-concave densities is proposed. The estimation procedure consists of an unconstrained kernel estimator which is modified in a second step with respect to the desired shape constraint by using monotone rearrangements. It is shown that the resulting estimate is a density itself and shares the asymptotic properties of the unconstrained estimate. A short simulation study shows the finite sample behavior.     

On the improved estimation of a function of the scale parameter of an exponential distribution based on doubly censored sample

In the present article, we have studied the estimation of entropy, that is, a function of scale parameter ln⁡σ of an exponential distribution based on doubly censored sample when the location parameter is restricted to positive real line. The estimation problem is studied under a general class of bowl-shaped non monotone location invariant loss functions. It is established that the best affine equivariant estimator (BAEE) is inadmissible by deriving an improved estimator. This estimator is non-smooth. Further, we have obtained a smooth improved estimator. A class of estimators is considered and sufficient conditions are derived under which these estimators improve upon the BAEE. In particular, using these results we have obtained the improved estimators for the squared error and the linex loss functions. Finally, we have compared the risk performance of the proposed estimators numerically. One data analysis has been performed for illustrative purposes.     

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.     

A new class of minimax generalized Bayes estimators of a normal variance

A new class of minimax generalized Bayes estimators of the variance of a normal distribution is given under both quadratic and entropy losses. One contribution of the paper is a new class of minimax generalized Bayes estimators of a particularly simple form. Another contribution is a class of minimax generalized Bayes procedures satisfying a Strawderman [1974. Minimax estimation of powers of the variance of a normal population under squared error loss. Ann. Statist. 2, 190–198]-type condition which do not satisfy a Brewster and Zidek [1974. Improving on equivariant estimators. Ann. Statist. 2, 21–38]-type condition. We indicate that the new class may have a noticeably larger region of substantial improvement over the usual estimator than Brewster and Zidek-type procedures.     

Strictly monotone and smooth nonparametric regression for two or more variables

The authors propose a new monotone nonparametric estimate for a regression function of two or more variables. Their method consists in applying successively one‐dimensional isotonization procedures on an initial, unconstrained nonparametric regression estimate. In the case of a strictly monotone regression function, they show that the new estimate and the initial one are first‐order asymptotic equivalent; they also establish asymptotic normality of an appropriate standardization of the new estimate. In addition, they show that if the regression function is not monotone in one of its arguments, the new estimate and the initial one have approximately the same L^p‐norm. They illustrate their approach by means of a simulation study, and two data examples are analyzed.     

Monotone Nonparametric Regression and Confidence Intervals

Several variations of monotone nonparametric regression have been developed over the past 30 years. One approach is to first apply nonparametric regression to data and then monotone smooth the initial estimates to “iron out” violations to the assumed order. Here, such estimators are considered, where local polynomial regression is first used, followed by either least squares isotonic regression or a monotone method using simple averages. The primary focus of this work is to evaluate different types of confidence intervals for these monotone nonparametric regression estimators through Monte Carlo simulation. Most of the confidence intervals use bootstrap or jackknife procedures. Estimation of a response variable as a function of two continuous predictor variables is considered, where the estimation is performed at the observed values of the predictors (instead of on a grid). The methods are then applied to data involving subjects that worked at plants that use beryllium metal who have developed chronic beryllium disease.     

Equivariant estimation for the parameters of location-scale multivariate exponential models and its application in reliability analysis

ABSTRACT

By considering an absolutely continuous location-scale multivariate exponential model (Weier and Basu, 1980), we obtain minimum risk equivariant estimator(s) of the parameter(s). Given a location-scale multivariate exponential random vector, it is shown that the normalized spacings associated with the random vector are independent standard exponential. The distribution of the complete sufficient statistic is derived. We derive the performance measures of standby, parallel, and series systems and also obtain the minimum risk equivariant estimator of the mean time before failure of the three systems. Some of the results of this article are extensions of those of Chandrasekar and Sajesh (2010).     

A simultaneous variable selection methodology for linear mixed models

Selecting an appropriate structure for a linear mixed model serves as an appealing problem in a number of applications such as in the modelling of longitudinal or clustered data. In this paper, we propose a variable selection procedure for simultaneously selecting and estimating the fixed and random effects. More specifically, a profile log-likelihood function, along with an adaptive penalty, is utilized for sparse selection. The Newton-Raphson optimization algorithm is performed to complete the parameter estimation. By jointly selecting the fixed and random effects, the proposed approach increases selection accuracy compared with two-stage procedures, and the usage of the profile log-likelihood can improve computational efficiency in one-stage procedures. We prove that the proposed procedure enjoys the model selection consistency. A simulation study and a real data application are conducted for demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

On the relative efficiency of a monotone parameter curve estimator in a functional nonlinear model

Functional regression models that relate functional covariates to a scalar response are becoming more common due to the availability of functional data and computational advances. We introduce a functional nonlinear model with a scalar response where the true parameter curve is monotone. Using the Newton-Raphson method within a backfitting procedure, we discuss a penalized least squares criterion for fitting the functional nonlinear model with the smoothing parameter selected using generalized cross validation. Connections between a nonlinear mixed effects model and our functional nonlinear model are discussed, thereby providing an additional model fitting procedure using restricted maximum likelihood for smoothing parameter selection. Simulated relative efficiency gains provided by a monotone parameter curve estimator relative to an unconstrained parameter curve estimator are presented. In addition, we provide an application of our model with data from ozonesonde measurements of stratospheric ozone in which the measurements are biased as a function of altitude.     

Simultaneous equivariant estimation of the parameters of linear models

Consider a family of distributions which is invariant under a group of transformations. In this paper, we define an optimality criterion with respect to an arbitrary convex loss function and we prove a characterization theorem for an equivariant estimator to be optimal. Then we consider a linear model Y=Xβ+ε, in which ε has a multivariate distribution with mean vector zero and has a density belonging to a scale family with scale parameter σ. Also we assume that the underlying family of distributions is invariant with respect to a certain group of transformations. First, we find the class of all equivariant estimators of regression parameters and the powers of σ. By using the characterization theorem we discuss the simultaneous equivariant estimation of the parameters of the linear model.     

Admissible treatment rules for a risk-averse planner with experimental data on an innovation

Consider a planner choosing treatments for observationally identical persons who vary in their response to treatment. There are two treatments with binary outcomes. One is a status quo with known population success rate. The other is an innovation for which the data are the outcomes of an experiment. Karlin and Rubin [1956. The theory of decision procedures for distributions with monotone likelihood ratio. Ann. Math. Statist. 27, 272–299] assumed that the objective is to maximize the population success rate and showed that the admissible rules are the KR-monotone   rules. These assign everyone to the status quo if the number of experimental successes is below a specified threshold and everyone to the innovation if experimental success exceeds the threshold. We assume that the objective is to maximize a concave-monotone function f(·)$f(·)$ of the success rate and show that admissibility depends on the curvature of f(·)$f(·)$. Let a fractional monotone   rule be one where the fraction of persons assigned to the innovation weakly increases with the number of experimental successes. We show that the class of fractional monotone rules is complete if f(·)$f(·)$ is concave and strictly monotone. Define an M-step monotone rule   to be a fractional monotone rule with an interior fractional treatment assignment for no more than M$M$ consecutive values of the number of experimental successes. The M$M$-step monotone rules form a complete class if f(·)$f(·)$ is differentiable and has sufficiently weak curvature. Bayes rules and the minimax-regret rule depend on the curvature of the welfare function.     

Simultaneous Confidence Intervals for Monotone Contrasts of Normal Means

The one-way ANOVA model is considered. The variances are assumed to be either equal but unknown or unequal and unknown. Two-stage procedures for generating simultaneous confidence intervals (SCI) for the class of monotone contrasts of the means are presented. The intervals are of fixed length and independent of the unknown variances.