Uniform in Bandwidth Estimation of Integral Functionals of the Density Function

Abstract. We apply recent results on local U‐statistics to obtain uniform in bandwidth consistency and central limit theorems for some commonly used estimators of integral functionals of density functions.     

A note on bias reduction in variable-kernel density estimates

It is well known that the inverse-square-root rule of Abramson (1982) for the bandwidth h of a variable-kernel density estimator achieves a reduction in bias from the fixed-bandwidth estimator, even when a nonnegative kernel is used. Without some form of “clipping” device similar to that of Abramson, the asymptotic bias can be much greater than O(h⁴) for target densities like the normal (Terrell and Scott 1992) or even compactly supported densities. However, Abramson used a nonsmooth clipping procedure intended for pointwise estimation. Instead, we propose a smoothly clipped estimator and establish a globally valid, uniformly convergent bias expansion for densities with uniformly continuous fourth derivatives. The main result extends Hall's (1990) formula (see also Terrell and Scott 1992) to several dimensions, and actually to a very general class of estimators. By allowing a clipping parameter to vary with the bandwidth, the usual O(h⁴) bias expression holds uniformly on any set where the target density is bounded away from zero.     

Bootstrap Bandwidth Selection Using an h-Dependent Pilot Bandwidth

Abstract.  The problem of choosing the bandwidth h for kernel density estimation is considered. All the plug-in-type bandwidth selection methods require the use of a pilot bandwidth g . The usual way to make an h -dependent choice of g is by obtaining their asymptotic expressions separately and solving the two equations. In contrast, we obtain the asymptotically optimal value of g for every fixed h , thus making our selection 'less asymptotic'. Exact error expressions show that some usually assumed hypotheses have to be discarded in the asymptotic study in this case. Two versions of a new bandwidth selector based on this idea are proposed, and their properties are analysed through theoretical results and a simulation study.     

A Bayesian model for local smoothing in kernel density estimation

A new procedure is proposed for deriving variable bandwidths in univariate kernel density estimation, based upon likelihood cross-validation and an analysis of a Bayesian graphical model. The procedure admits bandwidth selection which is flexible in terms of the amount of smoothing required. In addition, the basic model can be extended to incorporate local smoothing of the density estimate. The method is shown to perform well in both theoretical and practical situations, and we compare our method with those of Abramson (The Annals of Statistics 10: 1217–1223) and Sain and Scott (Journal of the American Statistical Association 91: 1525–1534). In particular, we note that in certain cases, the Sain and Scott method performs poorly even with relatively large sample sizes.We compare various bandwidth selection methods using standard mean integrated square error criteria to assess the quality of the density estimates. We study situations where the underlying density is assumed both known and unknown, and note that in practice, our method performs well when sample sizes are small. In addition, we also apply the methods to real data, and again we believe our methods perform at least as well as existing methods.     

Interactive local bandwidth choice

A tool for user choice of the local bandwidth function for kernel density and nonparametric regression estimates is developed using KDE, a graphical object-oriented package for interactive kernel density estimation written in LISP-STAT. The bandwidth function is a parameterized spline, whose knots are manipulated by the user in one window, while the resulting estimate appears in another window. A real data illustration of this method raises concerns, because an extremely large family of estimates is available. Suggestions are made to overcome this problem so that this tool can be used effectively for presenting final results of a data analysis.     

A new non parametric estimator for Pdf based on inverse gamma distribution

ABSTRACT

The non parametric approach is considered to estimate probability density function (Pdf) which is supported on(0, ∞). This approach is the inverse gamma kernel. We show that it has same properties as gamma, reciprocal inverse Gaussian, and inverse Gaussian kernels such that it is free of the boundary bias, non negative, and it achieves the optimal rate of convergence for the mean integrated squared error. Also some properties of the estimator were established such as bias and variance. Comparison of the bandwidth selection methods for inverse gamma kernel estimation of Pdf is done.     

Symmetric maximum kernel likelihood estimation

We introduce an estimator for the population mean based on maximizing likelihoods formed from a symmetric kernel density estimate. Due to these origins, we have dubbed the estimator the symmetric maximum kernel likelihood estimate (smkle). A speedy computational method to compute the smkle based on binning is implemented in a simulation study which shows that the smkle at an optimal bandwidth is decidedly superior in terms of efficiency to the sample mean and other measures of location for heavy-tailed symmetric distributions. An empirical rule and a computational method to estimate this optimal bandwidth are developed and used to construct bootstrap confidence intervals for the population mean. We show that the intervals have approximately nominal coverage and have significantly smaller average width than the corresponding intervals for other measures of location.     

Estimation de densités unimodales

This paper proposes a new nonparametric unimodal estimator of a unimodal probability density function, in the case where the mode is known. The classical solution to this problem is the maximum-likelihood estimator under monotonicity constraint, considered by Grenander (1956). Our approach is based on a unimodal rearrangement of the kernel estimator of the density. Asymptotic properties of this estimator are studied, and its small-sample behaviour is examined through simulations.     

UNCONSTRAINED PILOT SELECTORS FOR SMOOTHED CROSS‐VALIDATION

Two of the most useful multivariate bandwidth selection techniques are the plug‐in and cross‐validation methods. The smoothed version of the cross‐validation method is known to reduce the variability of its non‐smoothed counterpart; however, it shares with the plug‐in choice the need for a pilot bandwidth matrix. Owing to the mathematical difficulties encountered in the optimal pilot choice, it is common to restrict this pilot matrix to be a scalar multiple of the identity matrix, at the expense of losing the flexibility afforded by the unconstrained approach. Here we show how to overcome these difficulties and propose a smoothed cross‐validation selector using an unconstrained pilot matrix. Our numerical results indicate that the unconstrained selector outperforms the constrained one in practice, and is a viable competitor to unconstrained plug‐in selectors.     

Data Sharpening for Hazard Rate Estimation

Data sharpening is a general tool for enhancing the performance of statistical estimators, by altering the data before substituting them into conventional methods. In one of the simplest forms of data sharpening, available for curve estimation, an explicit empirical transformation is used to alter the data. The attraction of this approach is diminished, however, if the formula has to be altered for each different application. For example, one could expect the formula for use in hazard rate estimation to differ from that for straight density estimation, since a hazard rate is a ratio–type functional of a density. This paper shows that, in fact, identical data transformations can be used in each case, regardless of whether the data involve censoring. This dramatically simplifies the application of data sharpening to problems involving hazard rate estimation, and makes data sharpening attractive.     

中国城镇化的地域非均衡及其动态演进——来自基尼系数及核密度估计的经验证据

基于中国1995-2013年省域数据,采用基尼系数及其分解、核密度估计方法,从人口和土地城镇化入手,系统分析了中国城镇化的地域非均衡及其动态演化规律。结果发现,1.中国人口和土地城镇化分布均呈现出由东往西逐渐降低的规律,城镇化非均衡主要体现在土地城镇化,而人口城镇化则未出现明显分异。2.全国尺度人口城镇化基尼系数随时间不断下降,城镇化非均衡逐渐减小;土地城镇化基尼系数则呈倒"U"型,城镇化非均衡先增后减。3.东中西三大区域内人口城镇化基尼系数均呈直线下降,区域间非均衡东部最大,西部次之,中部最小;土地城镇化非均衡则是东部大于中部和西部,但近年来西部已超过东部。4.人口城镇化非均衡在1995-2001年间主要来自地区间重叠,而后2002-2013年主要由地区间差异驱动;土地城镇化非均衡则主要来源于地区间差异。5.核密度估计显示人口城镇化增速较快,波动较小,而土地城镇化则极化趋势明显,波动较大。新型城镇化的协调推进宜从人口和土地城镇化两方面着手,特别要注意土地城镇化的失衡发展问题。     

A family of kernels and their associated deconvolving kernels for normally distributed measurement errors

A family of kernels (with the sinc kernel as the simplest member) is introduced for which the associated deconvolving kernels (assuming normally distributed measurement errors) can be represented by relatively simple analytic functions. For this family, deconvolving kernel density estimation is not more sophisticated than ordinary kernel density estimation. Application examples suggest that it may be advantageous to overestimate the measurement error, because the resulting deconvolving kernels can partially compensate for the blurring inherent to the density estimation itself. A corollary of this proposition is that, even without error, it may be rational to use deconvolving rather than ordinary kernels.     

A Note on Ergodic Processes Prediction via Estimation of the Conditional Mode Function

We establish the uniform almost-sure convergence of a kernel estimate of the conditional density for an ergodic process. A useful application to the prediction of the ergodic process via the conditional mode function is also given.     

Local Adaptivity of Kernel Estimates with Plug-in Local Bandwidth Selectors

In non-parametric function estimation selection of a smoothing parameter is one of the most important issues. The performance of smoothing techniques depends highly on the choice of this parameter. Preferably the bandwidth should be determined via a data-driven procedure. In this paper we consider kernel estimators in a white noise model, and investigate whether locally adaptive plug-in bandwidths can achieve optimal global rates of convergence. We consider various classes of functions: Sobolev classes, bounded variation function classes, classes of convex functions and classes of monotone functions. We study the situations of pilot estimation with oversmoothing and without oversmoothing. Our main finding is that simple local plug-in bandwidth selectors can adapt to spatial inhomogeneity of the regression function as long as there are no local oscillations of high frequency. We establish the pointwise asymptotic distribution of the regression estimator with local plug-in bandwidth.     

Estimation of a finite population distribution function based on a linear model with unknown heteroscedastic errors

The authors consider a finite population ρ = {(Y_k, x_k), k = 1,…,N} conforming to a linear superpopulation model with unknown heteroscedastic errors, the variances of which are values of a smooth enough function of the auxiliary variable X for their nonparametric estimation. They describe a method of the Chambers‐Dunstan type for estimation of the distribution of {Y_k, k = 1,…, N} from a sample drawn from without replacement, and determine the asymptotic distribution of its estimation error. They also consider estimation of its mean squared error in particular cases, evaluating both the analytical estimator derived by “plugging‐in” the asymptotic variance, and a bootstrap approach that is also applicable to estimation of parameters other than mean squared error. These proposed methods are compared with some common competitors in simulation studies.     

Pointwise and uniform convergence of multivariate kernel density estimators using random bandwidths

We obtain the rates of pointwise and uniform convergence of multivariate kernel density estimators using a random bandwidth vector obtained by some data-based algorithm. We are able to obtain faster rate for pointwise convergence. The uniform convergence rate is obtained under some moment condition on the marginal distribution. The rates are obtained under i.i.d. and strongly mixing type dependence assumptions.     

Nonparametric Estimation of Volatility Function with Variable Bandwidth Parameter

In this article, we introduce a new method for the volatility function estimation of continuous-time diffusion process dX _t  = μ(X _t )dt + σ(X _t )dW _t , which is based on combining the idea of local linear smoother and variable bandwidth. We give the expressions for the conditional MSE and MISE of the estimator and obtain the optimal variable bandwidth. An explicit formula for the optimal variable bandwidth is presented by minimizing the MISE, which extends the related results in Fan and Gijbels (1992 Fan , J. Q. , Gijbels , I. ( 1992 ). Variable bandwidth and local linear regression smoother . Ann. Statist. 20 ( 4 ): 2008 – 2036 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), etc. Finally, some simulations show that the performance of the proposed estimator with optimal variable bandwidth is often much better than that of the local linear estimator with invariable bandwidth.     

Non-parametric Estimation of the Death Rate in Branching Diffusions

We consider finite systems of diffusing particles in with branching and immigration. Branching of particles occurs at position dependent rate. Under ergodicity assumptions, we estimate the position-dependent branching rate based on the observation of the particle process over a time interval [0, t ]. Asymptotics are taken as t  → ∞. We introduce a kernel-type procedure and discuss its asymptotic properties with the help of the local time for the particle configuration. We compute the minimax rate of convergence in squared-error loss over a range of Hölder classes and show that our estimator is asymptotically optimal.     

Kernel smoothing for finite populations

We identify a role for smooth curve provision in the finite population context. The performance of kernel density estimates in this scenario is explored, and they are tailored to the finite population situation especially by developing a method of data-based selection of the smoothing parameter appropriate to this problem. Simulated examples are given, including some from the particular context of permutation distributions which first motivated this investigation.     

Intensity Estimation for Spatial Point Processes Observed with Noise

Abstract.  This article introduces a kernel estimator of the intensity function of spatial point processes taking into account location errors. The asymptotic properties of the estimator are derived and a bandwidth selection procedure is described. A simulation study compares our results with that of the classical kernel estimator and shows that the edge-corrected deconvoluting kernel estimator is more appropriate.