Statistical inference on asymptotic properties of two estimators for the partially linear single-index models

The outer product of gradients (OPG) estimation procedure based on least squares (LS) approach has been presented by Xia et al. [An adaptive estimation of dimension reduction space. J Roy Statist Soc Ser B. 2002;64:363–410] to estimate the single-index parameter in partially linear single-index models (PLSIM). However, its asymptotic property has not been established yet and the efficiency of LS-based method can be significantly affected by outliers and heavy-tailed distributions. In this paper, we firstly derive the asymptotic property of OPG estimator developed by Xia et al. [An adaptive estimation of dimension reduction space. J Roy Statist Soc Ser B. 2002;64:363–410] in theory, and a novel robust estimation procedure combining the ideas of OPG and local rank (LR) inference is further developed for PLSIM along with its theoretical property. Then, we theoretically derive the asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) of the proposed LR-based procedure with respect to LS-based method, which is shown to possess an expression that is closely related to that of the signed-rank Wilcoxon test in comparison with the t-test. Moreover, we demonstrate that the new proposed estimator has a great efficiency gain across a wide spectrum of non-normal error distributions and almost not lose any efficiency for the normal error. Even in the worst case scenarios, the ARE owns a lower bound equalling to 0.864 for estimating the single-index parameter and a lower bound being 0.8896 for estimating the nonparametric function respectively, versus the LS-based estimators. Finally, some Monte Carlo simulations and a real data analysis are conducted to illustrate the finite sample performance of the estimators.     

On the Preliminary Test Backfitting and Speckman Estimators in Partially Linear Models and Numerical Comparisons

Przystalski and Krajewski (2007 Przystalski , M. , Krajewski , P. ( 2007 ). Constrained estimators of treatment parameters in semiparametric models . Statist. Probab. Lett. 77 : 914 – 919 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) proposed the restricted backfitting (RBCF) estimator and restricted Speckman (RSPC) estimator for the treatment effects in a partially linear model when some additional exact linear restrictions are assumed to hold. In this article, we introduce the preliminary test backfitting (PTBCF) estimator and preliminary test Speckman (PTSPC) estimator when the validity of the restrictions is suspected. Performances of the proposed estimators are examined with respect to the mean squared error (MSE) criterion. In addition, numerical behaviors of the proposed estimators are illustrated and compared via a Monte Carlo simulation study.     

Inferences on the Among-Group Variance Component in Unbalanced Heteroscedastic One-Fold Nested Design

This article studies the hypothesis testing and interval estimation for the among-group variance component in unbalanced heteroscedastic one-fold nested design. Based on the concepts of generalized p-value and generalized confidence interval, tests and confidence intervals for the among-group variance component are developed. Furthermore, some simulation results are presented to compare the performance of the proposed approach with those of existing approaches. It is found that the proposed approach and one of the existing approaches can maintain the nominal confidence level across a wide array of scenarios, and therefore are recommended to use in practical problems. Finally, a real example is illustrated.     

Penalized inverse probability weighted estimators for weighted rank regression with missing covariates

Abstract

In this article, we study the variable selection and estimation for linear regression models with missing covariates. The proposed estimation method is almost as efficient as the popular least-squares-based estimation method for normal random errors and empirically shown to be much more efficient and robust with respect to heavy tailed errors or outliers in the responses and covariates. To achieve sparsity, a variable selection procedure based on SCAD is proposed to conduct estimation and variable selection simultaneously. The procedure is shown to possess the oracle property. To deal with the covariates missing, we consider the inverse probability weighted estimators for the linear model when the selection probability is known or unknown. It is shown that the estimator by using estimated selection probability has a smaller asymptotic variance than that with true selection probability, thus is more efficient. Therefore, the important Horvitz-Thompson property is verified for penalized rank estimator with the covariates missing in the linear model. Some numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the performance of the estimators.     

On an ad hoc test for order restricted multivariate normal means

Abstract

For several normal mean vectors restricted by a simple ordering with respect to a multivariate order, this article derives sufficient and necessary conditions for the restricted MLEs for both mean vectors and covariance matrix, and develops an ad hoc test. It establishes conditions for the bounds of the p-values. One example of such bound is given with some comments.     

More on the Preliminary Test Estimator in Almost Unbiased Liu Regression

This article is concerned with the parameter estimation in linear regression model when it is suspected that the regression coefficients are the subspace of the equality restrictions. The objective of this article is to introduce the preliminary test almost unbiased Liu estimators (PTAULE) based on the Wald (W), the likelihood ratio (LR), and the Lagrangian multiplier (LM) tests and compare the proposed estimators in the sense of the quadratic bias and mean square error (MSE) criterion.     

A Quality Control Approach of PVC Gloves Based on the Integration of SPC and EPC

Parameters in the production process of PVC gloves, such as production cycle, oven temperature, temperature, and viscosity of feed liquids are critical to the final quality of gloves. The dosing of feed liquids and plasticization of gloves are all controlled manually, and the viscosities of feed liquids and average oven temperature cannot be exactly regulated; those result in the degradation of final products and unreliability of the process. This article conducted studies on reliability enhancement of glove quality—an integrated control policy based on SPC and EPC was raised to minimize the process fluctuation, stabilize the output quality, and finally improve the process reliability. Using SPC method to eliminate the assignable factors in the process, when the process is under control, the EPC method was applied to make the process parameters closer to the target values which were decided through an inverse model of the process. The theory and methods were verified in the case study of PVC production control.     

Ridge Estimation to the Restricted Linear Model

This article is concerned with the problem of multicollinearity in a linear model with linear restrictions. After introducing a spheral restricted condition, a new restricted ridge estimation method is proposed by minimizing the sum of squared residuals. The property of the new estimator in its superiority over the ordinary restricted least squares estimation is then theoretically analyzed. Furthermore, a sufficient and necessary condition for selecting the ridge parameter k is obtained. To simplify the selection of the ridge parameter, a sufficient condition is also given. Finally, a numerical example demonstrates the merit of the new method in the aspect of solving the multicollinearity over the ordinary restricted least squares estimation.     

The Research on Two Kinds of Restricted Biased Estimators Based on Mean Squared Error Matrix

Sakall?oglu et al. (2001 Sakall?oglu , Kaç?ranlar , Akdeniz ( 2001 ). Mean squared error comparisons of some biased estimators . Commun. Statist. Theor. Meth. 30 : 347 – 361 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) dealt with the comparisons among the ridge estimator, Liu estimator, and iteration estimator. Akdeniz and Erol (2003 Akdeniz , F. , Erol , H. ( 2003 ). Mean squared error matrix comparisons of some biased estimators in linear regression . Commun. Statist. Theor. Meth. 32 : 2389 – 2413 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) have compared the (almost unbiased) generalized ridge regression estimator with the (almost unbiased) generalized Liu estimator in the matrix mean squared error sense. In this article, we study the ridge estimator and Liu estimator with respect to linear equality restriction, and establish some sufficient conditions for the superiority of the restricted ridge estimator over the restricted Liu estimator and the superiority of the restricted Liu estimator over the restricted ridge estimator under mean squared error matrix, respectively. Furthermore, we give a numerical example.     

Some New Results on Likelihood Ratio Orderings for Spacings of Heterogeneous Exponential Random Variables

Let X ₁, X ₂,…, X _n be independent exponential random variables with X _i having failure rate λ _i for i = 1,…, n. Denote by D _i:n  = X _i:n  ? X _i?1:n the ith spacing of the order statistics X _1:n  ≤ X _2:n  ≤ ··· ≤ X _n:n , i = 1,…, n, where X _0:n ≡ 0. It is shown that if λ _n+1 ≤ [≥] λ _k for k = 1,…, n then D _n:n  ≤ _lr D _n+1:n+1 and D _1:n  ≤ _lr D _2:n+1 [D _2:n+1 ≤ _lr D _2:n ], and that if λ _i  + λ _j  ≥ λ _k for all distinct i,j, and k then D _n?1:n  ≤ _lr D _n:n and D _n:n+1 ≤ _lr D _n:n , where ≤ _lr denotes the likelihood ratio order. We also prove that D _1:n  ≤ _lr D _2:n for n ≥ 2 and D _2:3 ≤ _lr D _3:3 for all λ _i 's.