Skew generalized extreme value distribution: Probability-weighted moments estimation and application to block maxima procedure

ABSTRACT

Following the work of Azzalini (1985 Azzalini, A. (1985). A class of distributions which includes the normal ones. Scand. J. Stat. 12:171–178.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] and 1986 Azzalini, A. (1986). Further results on a class of distributions which includes the normal ones. Statistica 46:199–208. [Google Scholar]) on the skew-normal distribution, we propose an extension of the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution, the SGEV. This new distribution allows for a better fit of maxima and can be interpreted as both the distribution of maxima when maxima are taken on dependent data and when maxima are taken over a random block size. We propose to estimate the parameters of the SGEV distribution via the probability-weighted moment method. A simulation study is presented to provide an application of the SGEV on block maxima procedure and return level estimation. The proposed method is also implemented on a real-life data.     

A bayesian method for inferring the degree fo dependence for a positively quadrant dependent distribution

A Bayesian method for making inferences on the degree of dependence for a positively quadrant dependent distribution is developed. This method is based on a parametric model, where the parameter measures the degree of association. The parametric model is a natural simplification of the original one: it is a mixture of the two extreme cases corresponding to independence and positive extremal dependence.     

A Time-Series Study of the Formation and Predictive Performance of EEC Production Survey Expectations

Generalized method of moments (GMM) has been an important innovation in econometrics. Its usefulness has motivated a search for good inference procedures based on GMM. This article presents a novel method of bootstrapping for GMM based on resampling from the empirical likelihood distribution that imposes the moment restrictions. We show that this approach yields a large-sample improvement and is efficient, and give examples. We also discuss the development of GMM and other recent work on improved inference.     

Rational Economic Data Revisions

The efficient handling of provisional economic time series data is considered. Procedures are justified in terms of a testable hypothesis regarding the nature of data revisions. The hypothesis leads to explicit and practical variance expressions for measurement errors. Testing and estimation issues are dealt with. An efficient dual filter is developed for recursive signal estimation. Techniques are applied to the Canadian index of production data.     

Randomize groups, not individuals: a strategy for improving early childhood programs

Until the past few years, our nation's approach to designing federal programs for preschool-age children lacked coherence and paid little attention to what had worked (and not worked) in the past. In this article, the authors propose that credible information useful for designing effective programs will require the ongoing, systematic development and evaluation of alternative approaches for the improvement of large-scale early childhood programs. The research should place greater reliance on experiments in which existing groups of individuals, such as intact classes or preschool agencies, are randomly assigned to implement competing early education programs or program components. Randomizing groups, rather than individual children, changes the research question from "What works?" to "What works better?" yielding more useful information than is currently available about which preschool approaches ought to be strongly embedded in our nation's social policy.     

Health-related determinants of perceived quality of life: a comparison between first-year university students and their working peers

This study compares aspects of the health-related behaviors and working life of first-year university students with those of their working counterparts and assesses the roles of these aspects as predictors of each groups' perceived quality of life (QoL). Subjects were taken from two cross-sectional data sets (a student survey and a population survey) from the Swedish central-western region of Osterg?tland. Male and female respondents aged 20-35 years were extracted and comparison were made considering in turn socio-demographic characteristics, health-related behaviors, exposure to abusive events at work and perceived QoL. University students smoked and used oral snuff in smaller proportions, they were not as frequent drinkers as their working counterparts, but they tended to drink more when they did drink. Threats and violence were less prevalent among students, but sexual harassment, were almost as common. The strongest predictors of perceived QoL for both groups are expected and former perceived QoL, followed by current self-rated health.