Entropy-based tests of uniformity: A Monte Carlo power comparison

In this article, we consider different entropy estimators and propose some entropy-based tests of uniformity. Critical values of the proposed test statistics are obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. Then the power values of the tests for various alternatives and sample sizes are compared. Finally, some recommendations for the application of the proposed tests in practice are presented.     

On the estimation of extropy

Recently, Lad, Sanfilippo, and Agro [(2015), ‘Extropy: Complementary Dual of Entropy’, Statistical Science, 30, 40–58.] showed the measure of entropy has a complementary dual, which is termed extropy. The present article introduces some estimators of the extropy of a continuous random variable. Properties of the proposed estimators are stated, and comparisons are made with Qiu and Jia’s estimators [(2018a), ‘Extropy Estimators with Applications in Testing uniformity’, Journal of Nonparametric Statistics, 30, 182–196]. The results indicate that the proposed estimators have a smaller mean squared error than competing estimators. A real example is presented and analysed.     

The influence of governance on public sector efficiency: A cross-country analysis

This paper examines whether governance quality affects public sector efficiency in the policy areas of administration, education, infrastructure, and stability. Using cross-country evidence, we find that a country's measures of governance quality are positively and significantly associated with public sector efficiency in the policy areas of administration, infrastructure, and stability. However, regression results suggest that a country's governance quality cannot affect efficiency in the policy area of education, even after controlling for some explanatory variables.     

A wide review on exponentiality tests and two competitive proposals with application on reliability

In this paper, two new statistics based on comparison of the theoretical and empirical distribution functions are proposed to test exponentiality. Critical values are determined by means of Monte Carlo simulations for various sample sizes and different significance levels. Through an extensive simulation study, 50 selected exponentiality tests are studied for a wide collection of alternative distributions. From the empirical power study, it is concluded that, firstly, one of our proposals is preferable for IFR (increasing failure rate) and UFR (unimodal failure rate) alternatives, whereas the other one is preferable for DFR (decreasing failure rate) and BFR (bathtub failure rate) alternatives and, secondly, the new tests can be considered serious and powerful competitors to other existing proposals, since they have the same (or higher) level of performance than the best tests in the statistical literature.     

Goodness-of-fit tests for lifetime distributions based on Type II censored data

In this article, the general test statistic introduced by Alizadeh Noughabi and Balakrishnan [Goodness of fit using a new estimate of Kullback-Leibler information based on Type II censored data. IEEE Trans Reliab. 2015;64:627–635.] is applied for testing goodness of fit of lifetime distributions based on Type II censored data. The test statistic is constructed based on an estimate of Kullback–Leibler (KL) information. We investigate the properties of the proposed test statistic such as the test statistic is nonnegative, just like KL information. We apply this test statistic to following distributions: Exponential, Weibull, Log-normal and Pareto. The critical values and Type I error of the proposed tests are obtained. It is shown that the proposed tests have an excellent Type I error and hence can be used confidently in practice. Then, by Monte Carlo simulations, the power values of the proposed tests are computed against several alternatives and compared with those of the existing tests. Finally, some real-world reliability data are used for illustrative purpose.     

构建东亚区域合作架构的挑战

经过20年的经济发展,东亚在世界上的地位已经大大提高,已成为世界上一支重要的力量。在新的历史条件和背景下,东亚须更有目标地和战略性地组织起来,但东亚区域架构的构建面临诸多挑战。中美关系是世界上和影响东亚地区合作的最重要的关系,构建东亚区域合作架构应当乐于见到美国的参与。总之,关于东亚区域合作架构的安排的共识正在形成,包括四个要素：即10＋3、10＋6、东盟以及APEC。10＋3应当成为东亚区域合作和东亚共同体建设的主导,10＋6应当发展成为关于地区重要战略利益问题有效的领导人对话论坛,东盟则必须实现东盟共同体的建设,APEC则在于推动亚太国家间的尤其是经济的关系。     

The Logistic-Uniform Distribution and Its Applications

In this article, we give a new family of univariate distributions generated by the Logistic random variable. A special case of this family is the Logistic-Uniform distribution. We show that the Logistic-Uniform distribution provides great flexibility in modeling for symmetric, negatively and positively skewed, bathtub-shaped, “J”-shaped, and reverse “J”-shaped distributions. We discuss simulation issues, estimation by the methods of moments, maximum likelihood, and the new method of minimum spacing distance estimator. We also derive Shannon entropy and asymptotic distribution of the extreme order statistics of this distribution. The new distribution can be used effectively in the analysis of survival data since the hazard function of the distribution can be “J,” bathtub, and concave-convex shaped. The usefulness of the new distribution is illustrated through two real datasets by showing that it is more flexible in analyzing the data than the Beta Generalized-Exponential, Beta-Exponential, Beta-Normal, Beta-Laplace, Beta Generalized half-Normal, β-Birnbaum-Saunders, Gamma-Uniform, Beta Generalized Pareto, Beta Modified Weibull, Beta-Pareto, Generalized Modified Weibull, Beta-Weibull, and Modified-Weibull distributions.     

Procedures for the identification of multiple influential observations in linear regression

Since the seminal paper by Cook (1977) in which he introduced Cook's distance, the identification of influential observations has received a great deal of interest and extensive investigation in linear regression. It is well documented that most of the popular diagnostic measures that are based on single-case deletion can mislead the analysis in the presence of multiple influential observations because of the well-known masking and/or swamping phenomena. Atkinson (1981) proposed a modification of Cook's distance. In this paper we propose a further modification of the Cook's distance for the identification of a single influential observation. We then propose new measures for the identification of multiple influential observations, which are not affected by the masking and swamping problems. The efficiency of the new statistics is presented through several well-known data sets and a simulation study.