Optimal Nonparametric Quantile Estimators. Towards a General Theory. A Survey

“Nonparametric” in the title is used to say that observations X ₁,…,X _n come from an unknown distribution F ∈ ? with ? being the class of all continuous and strictly increasing distribution functions. The problem is to estimate the quantile of a given order q ∈ (0,1) of the distribution F. The class ? of distributions is very large; it is so large that even X _nq:n , where nq is an integer, may be very poor estimator of the qth quantile. To assess the performance of estimators no properties based on moments may be used: expected values of estimators should be replaced by their medians, their variances—by some characteristics of concentration of distributions around the median. If an estimator is median-biased for one of distributions, the bias of the estimator may be infinitely large for other distributions. In the note optimal estimators with respect to various criteria of optimality are presented. The pivotal function F(T) of the estimator T is introduced which enables us to apply the classical statistical approach.     

Moments and quadratic forms of matrix variate skew normal distributions

ABSTRACT

In 2007, Domínguez-Molina et al. obtained the moment generating function (mgf) of the matrix variate closed skew normal distribution. In this paper, we use their mgf to obtain the first two moments and some additional properties of quadratic forms for the matrix variate skew normal distributions. The quadratic forms are particularly interesting because they are essentially correlation tests that introduce a new type of orthogonality condition.     

Characterizations of Distributions Based on Moments of Residual Life

Let T be a random variable having an absolutely continuous distribution function. It is known that linearity of E(T | T > t) can be used to characterize distributions such as exponential, power and Pareto distribution. In this work, we will extend the above results. More precisely, we characterize the distribution of T by using certain relationships of conditional moments of T. Our results can also be used to obtain new characterization of distributions based on adjacent order statistics or record values.     

Integral Representation of a Distribution Associated with a Pure Birth Process

ABSTRACT

This article deals with a distribution associated with a pure birth process starting with no individuals, with birth rates λ _n  = λ for n = 0, 2,…, m ? 1 and λ _n  = μ for n ≥ m. The probability mass function is expressed in terms of an integral that is very convenient for computing probabilities, moments, generating functions, and others. Using this representation, the kth factorial moments of the distribution is obtained. Some other forms of this distribution are also given.     

On the Parameter Estimation of the Asymmetric Multivariate Laplace Distribution

This article examines a family of three-parameter multivariate Laplace distributions ML _p (a, μ, Σ) which is closed under constant shifts. Parameter vectors a and μ are called shift and shape parameter, respectively, positive definite p × p-matrix Σ is a scale parameter. The first three moments are derived and used for estimating the parameters. The behavior of the obtained estimates is explored in a simulation experiment.     

Joint Moment Generating Functions of Nonadjacent Dual Generalized Order Statistics from Reflected Generalized Pareto Distributions

In this article, a class of reflected generalized Pareto distributions (cf. Burkschat et al., 2003 Burkschat , M. , Cramer , E. , Kamps , U. ( 2003 ). Dual generalized order statistics . Metron LXI ( 1 ): 13 – 26 . [Google Scholar]) is considered. Recurrence relations for joint moment generating functions of higher non adjacent dual generalized order statistics based on a random sample drawn from the considered class are derived. Higher joint moments of non adjacent dual generalized order statistics (reversed ordered order statistics and lower k-records as special cases) are obtained. Recurrence relations for single and product moment generating functions and moments of higher non adjacent dual generalized order statistics are derived. Some results of higher moments of non adjacent generalized order statistics from generalized Pareto distributions (cf. Johnson et al., 1995 Johnson , N. L. , Kotz , S. , Balakrishnan , N. ( 1995 ). Continuous Univariate Distributions. , 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York : Wiley & Sons . [Google Scholar]), are obtained by using a relation connecting higher moments of generalized order statistics and its dual.     

On a Class of Distributions Defined by the Relationship Between Their Density and Distribution Functions

Knowledge concerning the family of univariate continuous distributions with density function f and distribution function F defined through the relation f(x) = F ^α(x)(1 ? F(x))^β, α, β ? , is reviewed and modestly extended. Symmetry, modality, tail behavior, order statistics, shape properties based on the mode, L-moments, and—for the first time—transformations between members of the family are the general properties considered. Fully tractable special cases include all the complementary beta distributions (including uniform, power law and cosine distributions), the logistic, exponential and Pareto distributions, the Student t distribution on 2 degrees of freedom and, newly, the distribution corresponding to α = β = 5/2. The logistic distribution is central to some of the developments of the article.     

Book reviews

We propose two moment ratios based on the first four moments. These moment ratios are useful in identifying different members from a class of discrete or continuous distributions. These ratios are also useful in approximating the Neyman type A and the generalized Poisson distribution by the negative binomial distribution.     

Exact Moment Convergence Rates of U-Statistics

Let U _n be a U-statistic based on a symmetric kernel h(x, y) and i.i.d. samples {X, X _n ; n ≥ 1}. In this article, the exact moment convergence rates in the first moment of U _n are obtained, which extend previous results concerning partial sums.     

On moments of dual generalized order statistics from Topp-Leone distribution

In this paper, we have derived exact and explicit expressions for the ratio and inverse moments of dual generalized order statistics from Topp-Leone distribution. This result includes the single and product moments of order statistics and lower records . Further, based on n dual generalized order statistics, we have deduced the expression for Maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and Uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator (UMVUE) for the shape parameter of Topp-Leone distribution. Finally, based on order statistics and lower records, a simulation study is being carried out to check the efficiency of these estimators.     

The logistic-X family of distributions and its applications

ABSTRACT

The logistic distribution has a prominent role in the theory and practice of statistics. We introduce a new family of continuous distributions generated from a logistic random variable called the logistic-X family. Its density function can be symmetrical, left-skewed, right-skewed, and reversed-J shaped, and can have increasing, decreasing, bathtub, and upside-down bathtub hazard rates shaped. Further, it can be expressed as a linear combination of exponentiated densities based on the same baseline distribution. We derive explicit expressions for the ordinary and incomplete moments, quantile and generating functions, Bonferroni and Lorenz curves, Shannon entropy, and order statistics. The model parameters are estimated by the method of maximum likelihood and the observed information matrix is determined. We also investigate the properties of one special model, the logistic-Fréchet distribution, and illustrate its importance by means of two applications to real data sets.     

A new family of generalized distributions

Kumaraswamy [Generalized probability density-function for double-bounded random-processes, J. Hydrol. 462 (1980), pp. 79–88] introduced a distribution for double-bounded random processes with hydrological applications. For the first time, based on this distribution, we describe a new family of generalized distributions (denoted with the prefix ‘Kw’) to extend the normal, Weibull, gamma, Gumbel, inverse Gaussian distributions, among several well-known distributions. Some special distributions in the new family such as the Kw-normal, Kw-Weibull, Kw-gamma, Kw-Gumbel and Kw-inverse Gaussian distribution are discussed. We express the ordinary moments of any Kw generalized distribution as linear functions of probability weighted moments (PWMs) of the parent distribution. We also obtain the ordinary moments of order statistics as functions of PWMs of the baseline distribution. We use the method of maximum likelihood to fit the distributions in the new class and illustrate the potentiality of the new model with an application to real data.     

Testing the Equality and Exchangeability of Bivariate Distributions

We consider three methods (oments, cut-points, and ranks) for testing the hypotheses of equality of two bivariate distribution functions (H _0a ) and exchangeability (H _0b ). To test H _0a , the asymptotic normality of the vector of mixed moments provides a statistic with an asymptotic chi-square distribution. With every observation, method of cut-points associates three 2 × 2 tables to record the proportions of the X, Y, and the combined samples that fall in the four regions around the observation. We measure the total squared deviations of the proportions in the combined sample from X and Y samples. The two methods are compared with the method of ranks based on the Puri and Sen (1971 Puri , M. L. , Sen , P. K. ( 1971 ). Nonparametric Methods in Multivariate Analysis . New York : John Wiley and Sons . [Google Scholar]) multivariate two-sample rank test for location.

To test H _0b we identify two bivariate distributions, one above and the other below the line of symmetry X = Y, to which a test of H _0a is applied. Under H _0b , matrix of mixed moments is symmetric and a quadratic form in differences of (r,s)-th and (s, r)-th mixed moments provides an asymptotic chi-square distribution. A permutation test is devised to apply the method of cut-points to the observations above and below the line of symmetry after they are folded. We also describe an adaption of the Puri-Sen rank test to assess H _0b . To estimate the power of the above methods under different types of alternatives and compare them to existing tests, we report on a Monte Carlo experiment that evaluates the finite-sample performance of these methods under the Plackett's family of bivariate distributions.     

Attainability of the Upper Bounds for the Mean Past Lifetime of Parallel System Components

Among reliability systems, one of the basic systems is a parallel system. In this article, we consider a parallel system consisting of n identical components with independent lifetimes having a common distribution function F. Under the condition that the system has failed by time t, with t being 100pth percentile of F(t = F ^?1(p), 0 < p < 1), we characterize the probability distributions based on the mean past lifetime of the components of the system. These distributions are described in the form of a specific shape on the left of t and arbitrary continuous function on the right tail.     

Characterizations based on regression assumptions of order statistics

Let X₍₁₎≤X₍₂₎≤···≤X_(n) be the order statistics from independent and identically distributed random variables {X_i, 1≤i≤n} with a common absolutely continuous distribution function. In this work, first a new characterization of distributions based on order statistics is presented. Next, we review some conditional expectation properties of order statistics, which can be used to establish some equivalent forms for conditional expectations for sum of random variables based on order statistics. Using these equivalent forms, some known results can be extended immediately.     

The Extended Skew-Exponential Power Distribution and Its Derivation

We consider an extended family of asymmetric univariate distributions generated using a symmetric density, f, and the cumulative distribution function, G, of a symmetric distribution, which depends on two real-valued parameters λ and β and is such that when β = 0 it includes the entire class of distributions with densities of the form g(z | λ) = 2 G(λ z) f(z). A key element in the construction of random variables distributed according to the family is that they can be represented stochastically as the product of two random variables. From this representation we can readily derive theoretical properties, easy-to-implement simulation schemes, as well as extensions to the multivariate case and an explicit procedure for obtaining the moments. We give special attention to the extended skew-exponential power distribution. We derive its information matrix in order to obtain the asymptotic covariance matrix of the maximum likelihood estimators. Finally, an application to a real data set is reported, which shows that the extended skew-exponential power model can provide a better fit than the skew-exponential power distribution.     

The Kumaraswamy normal linear regression model with applications

ABSTRACT

For any continuous baseline G distribution, Cordeiro and Castro pioneered the Kumaraswamy-G family of distributions with two extra positive parameters, which generalizes both Lehmann types I and II classes. We study some mathematical properties of the Kumaraswamy-normal (KwN) distribution including ordinary and incomplete moments, mean deviations, quantile and generating functions, probability weighted moments, and two entropy measures. We propose a new linear regression model based on the KwN distribution, which extends the normal linear regression model. We obtain the maximum likelihood estimates of the model parameters and provide some diagnostic measures such as global influence, local influence, and residuals. We illustrate the potentiality of the introduced models by means of two applications to real datasets.     

The Homogeneous Markov System (HMS) as an Elastic Medium. The Three-Dimensional Case

Every attainable structure of the so-called continuous-time Homogeneous Markov System (HMS) with fixed size and state space S = {1, 2,…, n} is considered as a particle of R ⁿ and, consequently, the motion of the structure corresponds to the motion of the particle. Under the assumption that “the motion of every particle-structure at every time point is due to its interaction with its surroundings,” R ⁿ becomes a continuum (Tsaklidis, 1998 Tsaklidis , G. ( 1998 ). The continuous time homogeneous Markov system with fixed size as a Newtonian fluid? Appl. Stoch. Mod. Data Anal. 13 : 177 – 182 .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). Then the evolution of the set of the attainable structures corresponds to the motion of the continuum. For the case of a three-state HMS it is stated that the concept of the two-dimensional isotropic elasticity can further be used to interpret the three-state HMS's evolution.