Semiparametric Estimation of Stochastic Production Frontier Models

This article extends the linear stochastic frontier model proposed by Aigner, Lovell, and Schmidt to a semiparametric frontier model in which the functional form of the production frontier is unspecified and the distributions of the composite error terms are of known form. Pseudolikelihood estimators of the parameters characterizing the two error terms of the model are constructed based on kernel estimation of the conditional mean function. The Monte Carlo results show that the proposed estimators perform well in finite samples. An empirical application is presented. Extensions to a partially linear frontier function and to more flexible one-sided error distributions than the half-normal are discussed     

Semiparametric Smooth Coefficient Models

In this article, we propose a semiparametric smooth coefficient model as a useful yet flexible specification for studying a general regression relationship with varying coefficients. The article proposes a local least squares method with a kernel weight function to estimate the smooth coefficient function. The consistency of the estimator and its asymptotic normality are established. A simple statistic for testing a parametric model versus the semiparametric smooth coefficient model is proposed. An empirical application of the proposed method is presented with an estimation of the production function of the nonmetal mineral industry in China. The empirical findings show that the intermediate production and management expense has played a vital role and is an unbalanced determinant of the labor and capital elasticities of output in production.     

Local GMM Estimation of Semiparametric Panel Data with Smooth Coefficient Models

In this article, we consider the estimation of semiparametric panel data smooth coefficient models. We propose a class of local generalized method of moments (LGMM) estimators that are simple and easy to implement in practice. We show that the proposed LGMM estimators are consistent and asymptotically normal. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that our proposed estimator performs quite well in finite samples. An empirical application using a large panel of U.K. firms is also presented.     

双重滞后随机前沿模型技术效率的估计

首次在随机前沿模型中同时引入因变量间(或双边误差间)和技术效率间的空间相关性并构造了双重滞后随机前沿模型,使用极大似然估计方法和JLMS方法得出参数和技术效率的估计。蒙特卡罗模拟表明:忽略技术效率的空间相关性,参数估计和技术效率的估计均表现欠佳。本研究能以较高的精度估计参数和技术效率。随着样本容量的增加,估计效果更优。     

Semiparametric Efficient Distribution Free Estimation of Panel Models

This article generalizes results from Park et al. (1998 Park , B. U. , Sickles , R. C. , Simar , L. ( 1998 ). Stochastic frontiers: a semiparametric approach . J. Econometrics 84 : 273 – 301 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Adams et al. (1999 Adams , R. M. , Berger , A. N. , Sickles , R. C. ( 1999 ). Semiparametric approaches to stochastic panel frontiers with applications in the banking industry . J. Bus. Econ. Statist. 17 : 349 – 358 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) on semiparametric efficient estimation of panel models. The form of semiparametric efficient estimators depends on the statistical assumptions imposed. Normality assumptions on the transitory error are sometimes inappropriate. We relax the normality assumption used in the articles above to derive more general semiparametric efficient estimators. These estimators are illustrated in a Monte Carlo simulation and an analysis of banking productivity.     

On the Joint Estimation of Heterogeneous Technologies,Technical, and Allocative Inefficiency

In this article, we provide a semiparametric approach to the joint measurement of technical and allocative inefficiency in a way that the internal consistency of the specification of allocative errors in the objective function (e.g., cost function) and the derivative equations (e.g., share or input demand functions) is assured. We start from the Cobb–Douglas production and shadow cost system. We show that the shadow cost system has a closed-form likelihood function contrary to what was previously thought. In turn, we use the method of local maximum likelihood applied to a system of equations to obtain firm-specific parameter estimates (which reveal heterogeneity in production) as well as measures of technical and allocative inefficiency and its cost. We illustrate its practical application using data on U.S. electric utilities.     

A Random Coefficient Degradation Model With Ramdom Sample Size

In testing product reliability, there is often a critical cutoff level that determines whether a specimen is classified as failed. One consequence is that the number of degradation data collected varies from specimen to specimen. The information of random sample size should be included in the model, and our study shows that it can be influential in estimating model parameters. Two-stage least squares (LS) and maximum modified likelihood (MML) estimation, which both assume fixed sample sizes, are commonly used for estimating parameters in the repeated measurements models typically applied to degradation data. However, the LS estimate is not consistent in the case of random sample sizes. This article derives the likelihood for the random sample size model and suggests using maximum likelihood (ML) for parameter estimation. Our simulation studies show that ML estimates have smaller biases and variances compared to the LS and MML estimates. All estimation methods can be greatly improved if the number of specimens increases from 5 to 10. A data set from a semiconductor application is used to illustrate our methods.     

Semiparametric models: a generalized self-consistency approach

Summary. In semiparametric models, the dimension d of the maximum likelihood problem is potentially unlimited. Conventional estimation methods generally behave like O ( d ³). A new O ( d ) estimation procedure is proposed for a large class of semiparametric models. Potentially unlimited dimension is handled in a numerically efficient way through a Nelson–Aalen-like estimator. Discussion of the new method is put in the context of recently developed minorization–maximization algorithms based on surrogate objective functions. The procedure for semiparametric models is used to demonstrate three methods to construct a surrogate objective function: using the difference of two concave functions, the EM way and the new quasi-EM (QEM) approach. The QEM approach is based on a generalization of the EM-like construction of the surrogate objective function so it does not depend on the missing data representation of the model. Like the EM algorithm, the QEM method has a dual interpretation, a result of merging the idea of surrogate maximization with the idea of imputation and self-consistency. The new approach is compared with other possible approaches by using simulations and analysis of real data. The proportional odds model is used as an example throughout the paper.     

空间滞后面板平滑转换模型的估计及数值模拟

将空间滞后项引入面板平滑转换模型,构建了空间滞后面板平滑转换模型,通过综合应用拟极大似然法和非线性最小二乘法,构造了该模型的参数估计方法,并通过蒙特卡洛数值模拟探讨了参数估计方法的小样本性质;数值模拟结果显示,提出的估计方法在小样本条件下表现良好,参数估计值随着样本容量的增大而收敛到参数的真值。     

Variable Selection for Semiparametric Varying Coefficient Partially Linear Errors-in-Variables (EV) Model with Missing Response

This paper focuses on the variable selection for semiparametric varying coefficient partially linear model when the covariates are measured with additive errors and the response is missing. An adaptive lasso estimator and the smoothly clipped absolute deviation estimator as a comparison for the parameters are proposed. With the proper selection of regularization parameter, the sampling properties including the consistency of the two procedures and the oracle properties are established. Furthermore, the algorithms and corresponding standard error formulas are discussed. A simulation study is carried out to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed methods.     

Fitting Variance Components Model and Fixed Effects Model for One-Way Analysis of Variance to Complex Survey Data

Under complex survey sampling, in particular when selection probabilities depend on the response variable (informative sampling), the sample and population distributions are different, possibly resulting in selection bias. This article is concerned with this problem by fitting two statistical models, namely: the variance components model (a two-stage model) and the fixed effects model (a single-stage model) for one-way analysis of variance, under complex survey design, for example, two-stage sampling, stratification, and unequal probability of selection, etc. Classical theory underlying the use of the two-stage model involves simple random sampling for each of the two stages. In such cases the model in the sample, after sample selection, is the same as model for the population; before sample selection. When the selection probabilities are related to the values of the response variable, standard estimates of the population model parameters may be severely biased, leading possibly to false inference. The idea behind the approach is to extract the model holding for the sample data as a function of the model in the population and of the first order inclusion probabilities. And then fit the sample model, using analysis of variance, maximum likelihood, and pseudo maximum likelihood methods of estimation. The main feature of the proposed techniques is related to their behavior in terms of the informativeness parameter. We also show that the use of the population model that ignores the informative sampling design, yields biased model fitting.     

A Class of Semiparametric Transformation Models for Doubly Censored Failure Time Data

Doubly censored failure time data occur in many areas including demographical studies, epidemiology studies, medical studies and tumorigenicity experiments, and correspondingly some inference procedures have been developed in the literature (Biometrika, 91, 2004, 277; Comput. Statist. Data Anal., 57, 2013, 41; J. Comput. Graph. Statist., 13, 2004, 123). In this paper, we discuss regression analysis of such data under a class of flexible semiparametric transformation models, which includes some commonly used models for doubly censored data as special cases. For inference, the non‐parametric maximum likelihood estimation will be developed and in particular, we will present a novel expectation–maximization algorithm with the use of subject‐specific independent Poisson variables. In addition, the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators are established and an extensive simulation study suggests that the proposed methodology works well for practical situations. The method is applied to an AIDS study.     

空间ZISF的估计及蒙特卡罗模拟

在随机前沿模型中引入空间效应和技术无效率项的非连续性并构建了空间零无效率随机前沿模型,使用极大似然估计和JLMS方法得出参数和技术效率的估计。蒙特卡罗模拟表明:(1)逆似然比检验能以较高的准确率识别真实模型;(2)本方法在参数估计和技术效率的估计两方面均表现较好;(3)若真实模型为空间零无效率随机前沿模型但误用了空间随机前沿模型,参数估计和技术效率的估计两方面均表现较差。空间零无效率随机前沿模型有其存在的必要性。     

Empirical Likelihood Inferences for Semiparametric Varying-Coefficient Partially Linear Models with Longitudinal Data

In this article, empirical likelihood inferences for semiparametric varying-coefficient partially linear models with longitudinal data are investigated. We propose a groupwise empirical likelihood procedure to handle the inter-series dependence of the longitudinal data. By using residual-adjustment, an empirical likelihood ratio function for the nonparametric component is constructed, and a nonparametric version Wilks' phenomenons is proved. Compared with methods based on normal approximations, the empirical likelihood does not require consistent estimators for the asymptotic variance and bias. A simulation study is undertaken to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed confidence regions.     

Estimation of a Semiparametric Recursive Bivariate Probit Model with Nonparametric Mixing

We consider an extension of the recursive bivariate probit model for estimating the effect of a binary variable on a binary outcome in the presence of unobserved confounders, nonlinear covariate effects and overdispersion. Specifically, the model consists of a system of two binary outcomes with a binary endogenous regressor which includes smooth functions of covariates, hence allowing for flexible functional dependence of the responses on the continuous regressors, and arbitrary random intercepts to deal with overdispersion arising from correlated observations on clusters or from the omission of non‐confounding covariates. We fit the model by maximizing a penalized likelihood using an Expectation‐Maximisation algorithm. The issues of automatic multiple smoothing parameter selection and inference are also addressed. The empirical properties of the proposed algorithm are examined in a simulation study. The method is then illustrated using data from a survey on health, aging and wealth.     

Semiparametric Spatial Autoregressive Models With Endogenous Regressors: With an Application to Crime Data

This study considers semiparametric spatial autoregressive models that allow for endogenous regressors, as well as the heterogenous effects of these regressors across spatial units. For the model estimation, we propose a semiparametric series generalized method of moments estimator. We establish that the proposed estimator is both consistent and asymptotically normal. As an empirical illustration, we apply the proposed model and method to Tokyo crime data to estimate how the existence of a neighborhood police substation (NPS) affects the household burglary rate. The results indicate that the presence of an NPS helps reduce household burglaries, and that the effects of some variables are heterogenous with respect to residential distribution patterns. Furthermore, we show that using a model that does not adjust for the endogeneity of NPS does not allow us to observe the significant relationship between NPS and the household burglary rate. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Regression Analysis of Left-truncated and Case I Interval-censored Data with the Additive Hazards Model

In recent years the analysis of interval-censored failure time data has attracted a great deal of attention and such data arise in many fields including demographical studies, economic and financial studies, epidemiological studies, social sciences, and tumorigenicity experiments. This is especially the case in medical studies such as clinical trials. In this article, we discuss regression analysis of one type of such data, Case I interval-censored data, in the presence of left-truncation. For the problem, the additive hazards model is employed and the maximum likelihood method is applied for estimations of unknown parameters. In particular, we adopt the sieve estimation approach that approximates the baseline cumulative hazard function by linear functions. The resulting estimates of regression parameters are shown to be consistent and efficient and have an asymptotic normal distribution. An illustrative example is provided.     

Semiparametric Likelihood Estimation in the Clayton–Oakes Failure Time Model

Multivariate failure time data arise when the sample consists of clusters and each cluster contains several possibly dependent failure times. The Clayton–Oakes model (Clayton, 1978; Oakes, 1982) for multivariate failure times characterizes the intracluster dependence parametrically but allows arbitrary specification of the marginal distributions. In this paper, we discuss estimation in the Clayton–Oakes model when the marginal distributions are modeled to follow the Cox (1972) proportional hazards regression model. Parameter estimation is based on an approximate generalized maximum likelihood estimator. We illustrate the model's application with example datasets.     

A Cox‐Aalen Model for Interval‐censored Data

The Cox‐Aalen model, obtained by replacing the baseline hazard function in the well‐known Cox model with a covariate‐dependent Aalen model, allows for both fixed and dynamic covariate effects. In this paper, we examine maximum likelihood estimation for a Cox‐Aalen model based on interval‐censored failure times with fixed covariates. The resulting estimator globally converges to the truth slower than the parametric rate, but its finite‐dimensional component is asymptotically efficient. Numerical studies show that estimation via a constrained Newton method performs well in terms of both finite sample properties and processing time for moderate‐to‐large samples with few covariates. We conclude with an application of the proposed methods to assess risk factors for disease progression in psoriatic arthritis.     

Empirical Likelihood for the Additive Hazards Model with Current Status Data

We investigate empirical likelihood for the additive hazards model with current status data. An empirical log-likelihood ratio for a vector or subvector of regression parameters is defined and its limiting distribution is shown to be a standard chi-squared distribution. The proposed inference procedure enables us to make empirical likelihood-based inference for the regression parameters. Finite sample performance of the proposed method is assessed in simulation studies to compare with that of a normal approximation method, it shows that the empirical likelihood method provides more accurate inference than the normal approximation method. A real data example is used for illustration.