Nonlinear Lp-norm estimation: Part II: The asymptotic distribution gf the exponent,p, as a function of the sample kurtosis.

In this paper it will be shown that the exponent p in L_p,-norm P estimation as an explicit function of the sample kurtosis is asymptotically normally distributed. The asymptotic variances of p for two sllch formulae are derived. An alternative formula which implicitly relates p to the sample kurtosis is also discussed.

An adaptive procedure for the selection of p when the underlying error distribution is unknown is also suggested. This procedure is used to verify empirically that the asymptotic distribution of p is normal.     

Pooling means under uncertain prior information with application to discrete distributions

The problem of pooling means is considered based on two samples in presence of the uncertain prior information that these samples are taken from possibly identical populations. Two discrete models, Poisson and binomial are considered in particular. Three estimators, i.e. the unrestricted estimator, shrinkage restricted estimator and estimators based on preliminary test are proposed. Their asymptotic mean squared errors are derived and compared. It is demonstrated via asymptotic results that the range of the parameter space in which shrinkage preliminary test estimator dominates the unrestricted estimator is wider than that of the usual preliminary test estimator. A Monte Carlo study for Poisson model is presented to compare the performance of the estimators for small samples.     

Model selection and post estimation based on a pretest for logistic regression models

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the problem of parameter estimation of the logistic regression model under subspace information via linear shrinkage, pretest, and shrinkage pretest estimators along with the traditional unrestricted maximum likelihood estimator and restricted estimator. We developed an asymptotic theory for the linear shrinkage and pretest estimators and compared their relative performance using the notion of asymptotic distributional bias and asymptotic quadratic risk. The analytical results demonstrated that the proposed estimation strategies outperformed the classical estimation strategies in a meaningful parameter space. Detailed Monte-Carlo simulation studies were conducted for different combinations and the performance of each estimation method was evaluated in terms of simulated relative efficiency. The results of the simulation study were in strong agreement with the asymptotic analytical findings. Two real-data examples are also given to appraise the performance of the estimators.     

Empirical bayes shrinkage estimation of reliability in the exponential distribution

In this paper we propose two empirical Bayes shrinkage estimators for the reliability of the exponential distribution and study their properties. Under the uniform prior distribution and the inverted gamma prior distribution these estimators are developed and compared with a preliminary test estimator and with a shrinkage testimator in terms of mean squared error. The proposed empirical Bayes shrinkage estimator under the inverted gamma prior distribution is shown to be preferable to the preliminary test estimator and the shrinkage testimator when the prior value of mean life is clsoe to the true mean life.     

Merging data from multiple sources: pretest and shrinkage perspectives

In this article, we have developed asymptotic theory for the simultaneous estimation of the k means of arbitrary populations under the common mean hypothesis and further assuming that corresponding population variances are unknown and unequal. The unrestricted estimator, the Graybill-Deal-type restricted estimator, the preliminary test, and the Stein-type shrinkage estimators are suggested. A large sample test statistic is also proposed as a pretest for testing the common mean hypothesis. Under the sequence of local alternatives and squared error loss, we have compared the asymptotic properties of the estimators by means of asymptotic distributional quadratic bias and risk. Comprehensive Monte-Carlo simulation experiments were conducted to study the relative risk performance of the estimators with reference to the unrestricted estimator in finite samples. Two real-data examples are also furnished to illustrate the application of the suggested estimation strategies.     

On shrinkage r-estimation in a multiple regression model

For a multiple regression model, bearing the plausibility of a subset of the regression parameters being close to a pivot, for the complementary subset, based on the usual James-Stein rule, a general formulation of shrinkage R-estimation is considered. In the light of asymptotic distributional risks of estimators, performance characteristics ( under local alternatives) of the classical R-est-imator and its preliminary test and shrinkage versions (all based on the common score function ) are studied. These shed light on the relative dominance picture in a meaningful asymptotic setup.     

On shrinkage least squares estimation in a parallelism problem

In a multi-sample simple regression model, generally, homogeneity of the regression slopes leads to improved estimation of the intercepts. Analogous to the preliminary test estimators, (smooth) shrinkage least squares estimators of Intercepts based on the James-Stein rule on regression slopes are considered. Relative pictures on the (asymptotic) risk of the classical, preliminary test and the shrinkage least squares estimators are also presented. None of the preliminary test and shrinkage least squares estimators may dominate over the other, though each of them fares well relative to the other estimators.     

On shrinkage estimation of the exponential location parameter

Under the assumption that the exponential distribution is a reasonable model for a given population, some shrinkage estimators for the location parameter based on type 1 and type II censored samples have been derived. It is shown that these estimators dominate maximum likelihood estimators (MLE's) asymptotically under the mean squared error (MSE) criterion. A Monte Carlo study shows a significant improvement of our estimators over MLE's in terms of MSE for small samples.     

On the estimation of the mean vector of a multivariate normal distribution under symmetry

The problem of estimation of the mean vector of a multivariate normal distribution with unknown covariance matrix, under uncertain prior information (UPI) that the component mean vectors are equal, is considered. The shrinkage preliminary test maximum likelihood estimator (SPTMLE) for the parameter vector is proposed. The risk and covariance matrix of the proposed estimato are derived and parameter range in which SPTMLE dominates the usual preliminary test maximum likelihood estimator (PTMLE) is investigated. It is shown that the proposed estimator provides a wider range than the usual premilinary test estimator in which it dominates the classical estimator. Further, the SPTMLE has more appropriate size for the preliminary test than the PTMLE.     

Improved estimation of the mean vector for student-t model

Improved James-Stein type estimation of the mean vector μ of a multovaroate Student-t population of dimension p with ν degrees of freedom is considered. In addition to the sample data, uncertain prior information on the value of the mean vector, in the form of a null hypothesis, is used for the estiamtion. The usual maximum liklihood estimator((mle) of μ is obtained and a test statistic for testing H₀:μ=μ₀ is derived. Based on the mle of μ and the tes statistic the preliminary test estimator (PTE), Stein-type shrinkage estimator (SE) and positive-rule shrinkage esiimator (PRSE) are defined. The bias and the quadratic risk of the estimators are evaiuated. The relative performances of the estimators are mvestigated by analyzing the risks under different condltlons It is observed that the FRSE dommates over he other three estimators, regardless of the vaiidity of the null hypothesis and the value ν.     

Reducing bias of the maximum-likelihood estimation for the truncated Pareto distribution

The Pareto distribution is an important distribution in statistics, which has been widely used in finance, physics, hydrology, geology, astronomy, and so on. Even though the parameter estimation for the Pareto distribution has been well established in the literature, the estimation problem for the truncated Pareto distribution becomes complex. This article investigates the bias and mean-squared error of the maximum-likelihood estimation for the truncated Pareto distribution, and some useful results are obtained.     

Umvu estimation for the cumulative hazard function in a pareto distribution of the first kind

The uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator of the cumulative hazard function in the Pareto distribution of the first kind is derived. The variance of the estimator is also obtained in an analytic form, and for some cases its values are compared numerically with mean square errors of the maximum likelihood estimator.     

On the asymptotic distribution of the Dickey Fuller-GLS test statistic

In a very influential paper, Elliott et al. [Efficient tests for an autoregressive unit root. Econometrica. 1996;64:813–836] show that no uniformly most powerful test for the unit root testing problem exits, derive the relevant power envelope and characterize a family of point-optimal tests. As a by-product, they also propose a ‘generalized least squares (GLS) detrended’ version of the conventional Dickey–Fuller test, denoted DF-GLS, that has since then become very popular among practitioners, much more so than the point-optimal tests. In view of this, it is quite strange to find that, while conjectured in Elliott et al. [Efficient tests for an autoregressive unit root. Econometrica. 1996;64:813–836], so far there seems to be no formal proof of the asymptotic distribution of the DF-GLS test statistic. By providing three separate proofs, the current paper not only substantiates the required result, but also provides insight regarding the pros and cons of different methods of proof.     

Application of shrinkage estimation in linear regression models with autoregressive errors

In this paper, we consider the shrinkage and penalty estimation procedures in the linear regression model with autoregressive errors of order p when it is conjectured that some of the regression parameters are inactive. We develop the statistical properties of the shrinkage estimation method including asymptotic distributional biases and risks. We show that the shrinkage estimators have a significantly higher relative efficiency than the classical estimator. Furthermore, we consider the two penalty estimators: least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and adaptive LASSO estimators, and numerically compare their relative performance with that of the shrinkage estimators. A Monte Carlo simulation experiment is conducted for different combinations of inactive predictors and the performance of each estimator is evaluated in terms of the simulated mean-squared error. This study shows that the shrinkage estimators are comparable to the penalty estimators when the number of inactive predictors in the model is relatively large. The shrinkage and penalty methods are applied to a real data set to illustrate the usefulness of the procedures in practice.     

Improved pretest nonparametric estimation in a multivariate regression model

Shrinkage pretest nonparametric estimation of the location parameter vector in a multivariate regression model is considered when nonsample information (NSI) about the regression parameters is available. By using the quadratic risk criterion, the dominance of the pretest estimators over the usual estimators has been investigated. We demonstrate analytically and computationally that the proposed improved pretest estimator establishes a wider dominance range for the parameter under consideration than that of the usual pretest estimator in which it is superior over the unrestricted estimator.     

On the asymptotic distribution of an isotonic window estimator for the generalized failure rate function

Barlow and van Zwet (1969, 1970, 1971) have proposed the isotonic window estimators for the generalized failure rate function and established some asymptotic properties. In this paper, we provide a proof, together with a set of sufficient conditions, of the asymptotic normality of an isotonic window estimator.     

Construction of improved estimators of multinomial proportions

The improved large sample estimation theory for the probabilities of multi¬nomial distribution is developed under uncertain prior information (UPI) that the true proportion is a known quantity. Several estimators based on pretest and the Stein-type shrinkage rules are constructed. The expressions for the bias and risk of the proposed estimators are derived and compared with the maximum likelihood (ml) estimators. It is demonstrated that the shrinkage estimators are superior to the ml estimators. It is also shown that none of the preliminary test and shrinkage estimators dominate each other, though they perform y/ell relative to the ml estimators. The relative dominance picture of the estimators is presented. A simulation study is carried out to assess the performance of the estimators numerically in small samples.     

On a preliminary test estimator for one of the parameters of the log-zero-poisson distribution

A discrete distribution called the log-zero-Poisson distribution has been recommended by Katti (c.f. Biometrics 1970) as an alternate to the negative binomial and other distributions usually called "contagious" distributions.A major problem in the use of this and all other contagious distributions has been the difficulty of obtaining the maximum likelihood esti-mates. A custom-made ad hoc estimator, λ, has been proposed for the parameter λ of this distribution in Katti and Khedr (1980). In this paper, its efficiency relative to Fisher information is studied, only to discover that λ can be 30 times better than the maximum likelihood estimate in some parts of the parameter space and much weaker in other parts.A preliminary test is recommended to choose between the estimates, and the efficiency of the procedure is tabulated. As it is to be expected, the resultant estimator equals the better of the two estimators with some error at the values of the parameters where the two estimators are equivalent.