Asymptotic properties of maximum quasi-likelihood estimator in quasi-likelihood nonlinear models with misspecified variance function

The quasi-likelihood function proposed by Wedderburn [Quasi-likelihood functions, generalized linear models, and the Gauss–Newton method. Biometrika. 1974;61:439–447] broadened the application scope of generalized linear models (GLM) by specifying the mean and variance function instead of the entire distribution. However, in many situations, complete specification of variance function in the quasi-likelihood approach may not be realistic. Following Fahrmeir's [Maximum likelihood estimation in misspecified generalized linear models. Statistics. 1990;21:487–502] treating with misspecified GLM, we define a quasi-likelihood nonlinear models (QLNM) with misspecified variance function by replacing the unknown variance function with a known function. In this paper, we propose some mild regularity conditions, under which the existence and the asymptotic normality of the maximum quasi-likelihood estimator (MQLE) are obtained in QLNM with misspecified variance function. We suggest computing MQLE of unknown parameter in QLNM with misspecified variance function by the Gauss–Newton iteration procedure and show it to work well in a simulation study.     

Asymptotic Properties of the Maximum Quasi-Likelihood Estimator in Quasi-Likelihood Nonlinear Models

Quasi-likelihood nonlinear models (QLNM) are a further extension of generalized linear models by only specifying the expectation and variance functions of the response variable. In this article, some mild regularity conditions are proposed. These regularity conditions, respectively, assure the existence, strong consistency, and the asymptotic normality of the maximum quasi-likelihood estimator (MQLE) in QLNM.     

Asymptotic properties of maximum quasi-likelihood estimator in quasi-likelihood non linear models with stochastic regression

In this paper, we establish the asymptotic properties of maximum quasi-likelihood estimator (MQLE) in quasi-likelihood non linear models (QLNMs) with stochastic regression under some mild regular conditions. We also investigate the existence, strong consistency, and asymptotic normality of MQLE in QLNMs with stochastic regression.     

Non-stationary quasi-likelihood and asymptotic optimality

This article is concerned with non-stationary time series which does not require the full knowledge of the likelihood function. Consequently, a quasi-likelihood is employed for estimating parameters instead of the maximum (exact) likelihood. For stationary cases, Wefelmeyer (1996) and Hwang and Basawa (2011a,b), among others, discussed the issue of asymptotic optimality of the quasi-likelihood within a restricted class of estimators. For non-stationary cases, however, the asymptotic optimality property of the quasi-likelihood has not yet been adequately addressed in the literature. This article presents the asymptotic optimal property of the non-stationary quasi-likelihood within certain estimating functions. We use a random norm instead of a constant norm to get limit distributions of estimates. To illustrate main results, the non-stationary ARCH model, branching Markov process, and non-stationary random-coefficient AR process are discussed.     

The em algorithm for the quasi-likelihood regression model

The objective of this paper is to present a method which can accommodate certain types of missing data by using the quasi-likelihood function for the complete data. This method can be useful when we can make first and second moment assumptions only; in addition, it can be helpful when the EM algorithm applied to the actual likelihood becomes overly complicated. First we derive a loss function for the observed data using an exponential family density which has the same mean and variance structure of the complete data. This loss function is the counterpart of the quasi-deviance for the observed data. Then the loss function is minimized using the EM algorithm. The use of the EM algorithm guarantees a decrease in the loss function at every iteration. When the observed data can be expressed as a deterministic linear transformation of the complete data, or when data are missing completely at random, the proposed method yields consistent estimators. Examples are given for overdispersed polytomous data, linear random effects models, and linear regression with missing covariates. Simulation results for the linear regression model with missing covariates show that the proposed estimates are more efficient than estimates based on completely observed units, even when outcomes are bimodal or skewed.     

Asymptotic properties of maximum quasi-likelihood estimators in generalized linear models with adaptive designs

In this paper, we present the asymptotic properties of maximum quasi-likelihood estimators (MQLEs) in generalized linear models with adaptive designs under some mild regular conditions. The existence of MQLEs in quasi-likelihood equation is discussed. The rate of convergence and asymptotic normality of MQLEs are also established. The results are illustrated by Monte-Carlo simulations.     

Local polynomial quasi-likelihood regression with truncated and dependent data

The local polynomial quasi-likelihood estimation has several good statistical properties such as high minimax efficiency and adaptation of edge effects. In this paper, we construct a local quasi-likelihood regression estimator for a left truncated model, and establish the asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator when the observations form a stationary and α-mixing sequence, such that the corresponding result of Fan et al. [Local polynomial kernel regression for generalized linear models and quasilikelihood functions, J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 90 (1995), pp. 141–150] is extended from the independent and complete data to the dependent and truncated one. Finite sample behaviour of the estimator is investigated via simulations too.     

Improved estimation procedures for multilevel models with binary response: a case-study

During recent years, analysts have been relying on approximate methods of inference to estimate multilevel models for binary or count data. In an earlier study of random-intercept models for binary outcomes we used simulated data to demonstrate that one such approximation, known as marginal quasi-likelihood, leads to a substantial attenuation bias in the estimates of both fixed and random effects whenever the random effects are non-trivial. In this paper, we fit three-level random-intercept models to actual data for two binary outcomes, to assess whether refined approximation procedures, namely penalized quasi-likelihood and second-order improvements to marginal and penalized quasi-likelihood, also underestimate the underlying parameters. The extent of the bias is assessed by two standards of comparison: exact maximum likelihood estimates, based on a Gauss–Hermite numerical quadrature procedure, and a set of Bayesian estimates, obtained from Gibbs sampling with diffuse priors. We also examine the effectiveness of a parametric bootstrap procedure for reducing the bias. The results indicate that second-order penalized quasi-likelihood estimates provide a considerable improvement over the other approximations, but all the methods of approximate inference result in a substantial underestimation of the fixed and random effects when the random effects are sizable. We also find that the parametric bootstrap method can eliminate the bias but is computationally very intensive.     

Optimal estimating functions and wedderburn's quasi-likelihood

There are two inference methods which can be considered as developed from the classical least squares and maximum likelihood methods. One was put forward by Wedderburn (1974) and is called the quasi-likelihood method. Another was introduced by Godambe and others from the viewpoint of the estimating functions. This method is also called quasi-likelihood although there x are some differences between these two methods. In order to clarify the relationship, this paper provides a unified discussion of the two methods from the viewpoint of estimating functions.     

Control charts based on quasi-likelihood estimation for monitoring profiles

In some applications, the quality of the process or product is characterized and summarized by a functional relationship between a response variable and one or more explanatory variables. Profile monitoring is a technique for checking the stability of the relationship over time. Existing linear profile monitoring methods usually assumed the error distribution to be normal. However, this assumption may not always be true in practice. To address this situation, we propose a method for profile monitoring under the framework of generalized linear models when the relationship between the mean and variance of the response variable is known. Two multivariate exponentially weighted moving average control schemes are proposed based on the estimated profile parameters obtained using a quasi-likelihood approach. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated by simulation studies. Furthermore, the proposed method is applied to a real data set, and the R code for profile monitoring is made available to users.     

Inference in generalized additive mixed modelsby using smoothing splines

Generalized additive mixed models are proposed for overdispersed and correlated data, which arise frequently in studies involving clustered, hierarchical and spatial designs. This class of models allows flexible functional dependence of an outcome variable on covariates by using nonparametric regression, while accounting for correlation between observations by using random effects. We estimate nonparametric functions by using smoothing splines and jointly estimate smoothing parameters and variance components by using marginal quasi-likelihood. Because numerical integration is often required by maximizing the objective functions, double penalized quasi-likelihood is proposed to make approximate inference. Frequentist and Bayesian inferences are compared. A key feature of the method proposed is that it allows us to make systematic inference on all model components within a unified parametric mixed model framework and can be easily implemented by fitting a working generalized linear mixed model by using existing statistical software. A bias correction procedure is also proposed to improve the performance of double penalized quasi-likelihood for sparse data. We illustrate the method with an application to infectious disease data and we evaluate its performance through simulation.     

Robust estimation in generalized linear mixed models

Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) are widely used to analyse non-normal response data with extra-variation, but non-robust estimators are still routinely used. We propose robust methods for maximum quasi-likelihood and residual maximum quasi-likelihood estimation to limit the influence of outlying observations in GLMMs. The estimation procedure parallels the development of robust estimation methods in linear mixed models, but with adjustments in the dependent variable and the variance component. The methods proposed are applied to three data sets and a comparison is made with the nonparametric maximum likelihood approach. When applied to a set of epileptic seizure data, the methods proposed have the desired effect of limiting the influence of outlying observations on the parameter estimates. Simulation shows that one of the residual maximum quasi-likelihood proposals has a smaller bias than those of the other estimation methods. We further discuss the equivalence of two GLMM formulations when the response variable follows an exponential family. Their extensions to robust GLMMs and their comparative advantages in modelling are described. Some possible modifications of the robust GLMM estimation methods are given to provide further flexibility for applying the method.     

Robust quasi-likelihood inference in generalized linear mixed models with outliers

It is well known that in a traditional outlier-free situation, the generalized quasi-likelihood (GQL) approach [B.C. Sutradhar, On exact quasilikelihood inference in generalized linear mixed models, Sankhya: Indian J. Statist. 66 (2004), pp. 261–289] performs very well to obtain the consistent as well as the efficient estimates for the parameters involved in the generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs). In this paper, we first examine the effect of the presence of one or more outliers on the GQL estimation for the parameters in such GLMMs, especially in two important models such as count and binary mixed models. The outliers appear to cause serious biases and hence inconsistency in the estimation. As a remedy, we then propose a robust GQL (RGQL) approach in order to obtain the consistent estimates for the parameters in the GLMMs in the presence of one or more outliers. An extensive simulation study is conducted to examine the consistency performance of the proposed RGQL approach.     

Estimation for generalized partially functional linear additive regression model

In practice, it is not uncommon to encounter the situation that a discrete response is related to both a functional random variable and multiple real-value random variables whose impact on the response is nonlinear. In this paper, we consider the generalized partial functional linear additive models (GPFLAM) and present the estimation procedure. In GPFLAM, the nonparametric functions are approximated by polynomial splines and the infinite slope function is estimated based on the principal component basis function approximations. We obtain the estimator by maximizing the quasi-likelihood function. We investigate the finite sample properties of the estimation procedure via Monte Carlo simulation studies and illustrate our proposed model by a real data analysis.     

Functional quasi-likelihood regression models with smooth random effects

Summary. We propose a class of semiparametric functional regression models to describe the influence of vector-valued covariates on a sample of response curves. Each observed curve is viewed as the realization of a random process, composed of an overall mean function and random components. The finite dimensional covariates influence the random components of the eigenfunction expansion through single-index models that include unknown smooth link and variance functions. The parametric components of the single-index models are estimated via quasi-score estimating equations with link and variance functions being estimated nonparametrically. We obtain several basic asymptotic results. The functional regression models proposed are illustrated with the analysis of a data set consisting of egg laying curves for 1000 female Mediterranean fruit-flies (medflies).     

Use of vector divisions in solving quasi-likelihood equations for a Poisson model

Maximum-likelihood estimation technique is known to provide consistent and most efficient regression estimates but often this technique is tedious to implement, particularly in the modelling of correlated count responses. To overcome this limitation, researchers have developed semi- or quasi-likelihood functions that depend only on the correct specification of the mean and variance of the responses rather than on the distribution function. Moreover, quasi-likelihood estimation provides consistent and equally efficient estimates as the maximum-likelihood approach. Basically, the quasi-likelihood estimating function is a non-linear equation constituting of the gradient, Hessian and basic score matrices. Henceforth, to obtain estimates of the regression parameters, the quasi-likelihood equation is solved iteratively using the Newton–Raphson technique. However, the inverse of the Jacobian matrix involved in the Newton–Raphson method may not be easy to compute since the matrix is very close to singularity. In this paper, we consider the use of vector divisions in solving quasi-likelihood equations. The vector divisions are implemented to form secant method formulas. To assess the performance of the use of vector divisions with the secant method, we generate cross-sectional Poisson counts using different sets of mean parameters. We compute the estimates of the regression parameters using the Newton–Raphson technique and vector divisions and compare the number of non-convergent simulations under both algorithms.     

One-step local quasi-likelihood estimation

Local quasi-likelihood estimation is a useful extension of local least squares methods, but its computational cost and algorithmic convergence problems make the procedure less appealing, particularly when it is iteratively used in methods such as the back-fitting algorithm, cross-validation and bootstrapping. A one-step local quasi-likelihood estimator is introduced to overcome the computational drawbacks of the local quasi-likelihood method. We demonstrate that as long as the initial estimators are reasonably good, the one-step estimator has the same asymptotic behaviour as the local quasi-likelihood method. Our simulation shows that the one-step estimator performs at least as well as the local quasi-likelihood method for a wide range of choices of bandwidths. A data-driven bandwidth selector is proposed for the one-step estimator based on the pre-asymptotic substitution method of Fan and Gijbels. It is then demonstrated that the data-driven one-step local quasi-likelihood estimator performs as well as the maximum local quasi-likelihood estimator by using the ideal optimal bandwidth.     

The relationship between double-exponential families and extended quasi-likelihood families, with application to modelling Geissler's human sex ratio data

The human sex ratio data, collected in Saxony in the 19th century by Geissler, are reanalysed by joint modelling of the mean and dispersion. Extended quasi-likelihood and the unnormalized double-exponential family are shown to lead to identical inference. The use of the unnormalized form is discussed. The relationship between multinomial and Poisson models is studied for overdispersed data.     

Nonparametric quasi-likelihood for right censored data

Quasi-likelihood was extended to right censored data to handle heteroscedasticity in the frame of the accelerated failure time (AFT) model. However, the assumption of known variance function in the quasi-likelihood for right censored data is usually unrealistic. In this paper, we propose a nonparametric quasi-likelihood by replacing the specified variance function with a nonparametric variance function estimator. This nonparametric variance function estimator is obtained by smoothing a function of squared residuals via local polynomial regression. The rate of convergence of the nonparametric variance function estimator and the asymptotic limiting distributions of the regression coefficient estimators are derived. It is demonstrated in simulations that for finite samples the proposed nonparametric quasi-likelihood method performs well. The new method is illustrated with one real dataset.     

Generalized linear mixed models for ordered responses in complex multilevel structures: effects beneath the school or college in education

Summary.  The complexities of educational processes and structure and the need for disentangling effects beneath the level of the school or college are discussed. Ordinal response multilevel crossed random-effects models for educational grades are introduced. Weighted random effects for teacher contributions are then added. Estimation methodology is reviewed. Specially written macros for quasi-likelihood with second-order terms are described. The application discusses General Certificate of Education at advanced level grades cross-classified by student and teaching group within a number of institutions. The methods handle teacher effects where several teachers contribute to provision and where each teacher deals with several groups. Some methodological lessons are drawn for sparse data and the use of extra-multinomial variation. Developments of the analysis yield conclusions about the sources of variation in educational progress, and particularly the effect of teachers.