Improved Estimation of the Pareto Location Parameter Under Squared Error Loss

Suppose two independent observations are drawn from Pareto distributions with known shape parameters and an order restriction on the unknown location parameters. An isotonic regression estimator of the smaller location parameter dominates a preferred marginal estimator under squared error loss, but fails to dominate under stochastic domination. The results expressed herein advance the theory of order restricted inference.     

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.     

Reliability Evaluation for a Multi-State System Under Stress-Strength Setup

The two most commonly used reliability models in engineering applications are binary k-out-of-n:G and consecutive k-out-of-n:G systems. Multi-state k-out-of-n:G and multi-state consecutive k-out-of-n:G systems have been proposed as an extension of these systems and they have been found to be more flexible tool for modeling engineering systems. In this article, multi-state systems, in particular, multi-state k-out-of-n:G and multi-state consecutive k-out-of-n:G, are considered in a stress-strength setup. The states of the system are classified considering the number of components whose strengths above (below) the multiple stresses available in an environment. The exact state probabilities are provided and the results are illustrated for various stress-strength distributions. Maximum likelihood estimators of state probabilities are also presented.     

Ordering New Conditional Residual Lifetimes of k-out-of-n Systems

This article introduces a new residual life of (n ? k + 1)-out-of-n systems consisting of n independent and identically distributed components, given that the total number of failures of components is not less than l at time t, and the system is still working. Some stochastic comparisons of residual lifetimes are conducted, and behaviors of DLR and ILR are given.     

On the Choice of Nonparametric Entropy Estimator in Entropy-Based Goodness-of-Fit Test Statistics

Entropy-based goodness-of-fit test statistics can be established by estimating the entropy difference or Kullback–Leibler information, and several entropy-based test statistics based on various entropy estimators have been proposed. In this article, we first give comments on some problems resulting from not satisfying the moment constraints. We then study the choice of the entropy estimator by noting the reason why a test based on a better entropy estimator does not necessarily provide better powers.     

A Generalization of the Skew-Normal Distribution: The Beta Skew-Normal

We consider a new generalization of the skew-normal distribution introduced by Azzalini (1985 Azzalini , A. ( 1985 ). A class of distributions which includes the normal ones . Scand. J. Statis. 12 ( 2 ): 171 – 178 .[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). We denote this distribution Beta skew-normal (BSN) since it is a special case of the Beta generated distribution (Jones, 2004 Jones , M. C. ( 2004 ). Families of distributions of order statistics . Test 13 ( 1 ): 1 – 43 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Some properties of the BSN are studied. We pay attention to some generalizations of the skew-normal distribution (Bahrami et al., 2009 Bahrami , W. , Agahi , H. , Rangin , H. ( 2009 ). A two-parameter Balakrishnan skew-normal distribution . J. Statist. Res. Iran 6 : 231 – 242 . [Google Scholar]; Sharafi and Behboodian, 2008 Sharafi , M. , Behboodian , J. ( 2008 ). The Balakrishnan skew-normal density . Statist. Pap. 49 : 769 – 778 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Yadegari et al., 2008 Yadegari , I. , Gerami , A. , Khaledi , M. J. ( 2008 ). A generalization of the Balakrishnan skew-normal distribution . Statist. Probab. Lett. 78 : 1165 – 1167 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and to their relations with the BSN.     

The Communist Activities of the First International and the Logic of Socialist Party Politics

Against the backdrop of the 19^th century, the First International, guided by Marxism, emerged in the form of the early “International Socialist Federation.” It viewed the seizure of power as the great mission of the proletariat, actively struggled against bourgeois regimes, strongly responded to the call of times for the theoretical self-consciousness and organized struggle of the proletariat, and exerted a profound historical influence on the stirring inauguration and nationally oriented development of the international Communist movement of the 20^th century. From the socialist party political perspective, the First International, once the Communist League, had raised the curtain on socialist party politics, changed the political mode of capitalist party politics’ exclusive world domination through the interactive development of new organizational forms, theoretical viewpoints and political practice. It thus left an abundant historical legacy in terms of ideological creation and practical innovation for the subsequent Second International, the Communist International and the emergence and development of socialist party politics within nation-states. Although its socialist party political practice had an obvious “regional,” “preliminary” and “tentative” nature, the First International had foundation-laying significance and pioneering value for the development of socialist party politics, whether in terms of organizational vehicles, value orientation and activity content, or in terms of ideological guidance, practical patterns and strategic principles.     

自贸区是抵御国际资本市场冲击的有力防线吗

通过增加企业的海外融资和金融加速器机制,本文建立了一个可以改变资本项目开放程度的动态一般均衡模型,用于分析自贸区模式和全开放模式下海外资本市场冲击对本国经济的影响。模拟结果表明,长期来看,当海外资本市场波动较小时资本项目开放更有利于经济体的稳定;而当海外资本市场波动较大时,盲目开放则会加剧经济波动。短期来说,无论海外资本市场是否稳定,资本项目的开放都会增加经济体遭受海外冲击的风险。相比于全开放,自贸区所设定的局部开放模式能够有效地缓解海外资本市场波动对于本国投资和产出的短期负向冲击。     

A Polynomial Logistic Distribution and its Applications in Finance

The importance of Logistic distribution has been widely recognized in many applied areas such as, demography, population studies, finance, agriculture, etc. Since its introduction as a model, much attention has been paid to the study of several generalizations of it, which would offer additional flexibility when data fitting is chased. In the present paper we introduce and develop a natural generalization of the Logistic distribution by considering a probability model whose logit cumulative distribution function transformation is of polynomial type. The performance of the model's fitting to financial data, using different parameter estimation methods, is also investigated.