An application of a minimax Bayes rule and shrinkage estimators to the portofolio selection problem under the Bayesian approach

This paper shows that a minimax Bayes rule and shrinkage estimators can be effectively applied to portfolio selection under the Bayesian approach. Specifically, it is shown that the portfolio selection problem can result in a statistical decision problem in some situations. Following that, we present a method for solving a problem involved in portfolio selection under the Bayesian approach.     

A Semi-parametric Bayesian Analysis of Survival Data Based on Lévy-driven Processes

In the presence of covariate information, the proportional hazards model is one of the most popular models. In this paper, in a Bayesian nonparametric framework, we use a Markov (Lévy-driven) process to model the baseline hazard rate. Previous Bayesian nonparametric models have been based on neutral to the right processes, which have a number of drawbacks, such as discreteness of the cumulative hazard function. We allow the covariates to be time dependent functions and develop a full posterior analysis via substitution sampling. A detailed illustration is presented.     

Bayesian model selection for join point regression with application to age-adjusted cancer rates

Summary.  The method of Bayesian model selection for join point regression models is developed. Given a set of K +1 join point models M ₀,  M ₁, …,  M _K with 0, 1, …,  K join points respec-tively, the posterior distributions of the parameters and competing models M _k are computed by Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations. The Bayes information criterion BIC is used to select the model M _k with the smallest value of BIC as the best model. Another approach based on the Bayes factor selects the model M _k with the largest posterior probability as the best model when the prior distribution of M _k is discrete uniform. Both methods are applied to analyse the observed US cancer incidence rates for some selected cancer sites. The graphs of the join point models fitted to the data are produced by using the methods proposed and compared with the method of Kim and co-workers that is based on a series of permutation tests. The analyses show that the Bayes factor is sensitive to the prior specification of the variance σ ², and that the model which is selected by BIC fits the data as well as the model that is selected by the permutation test and has the advantage of producing the posterior distribution for the join points. The Bayesian join point model and model selection method that are presented here will be integrated in the National Cancer Institute's join point software ( http://www.srab.cancer.gov/joinpoint/ ) and will be available to the public.     

BAYESIAN SUBSET SELECTION AND MODEL AVERAGING USING A CENTRED AND DISPERSED PRIOR FOR THE ERROR VARIANCE

This article proposes a new data‐based prior distribution for the error variance in a Gaussian linear regression model, when the model is used for Bayesian variable selection and model averaging. For a given subset of variables in the model, this prior has a mode that is an unbiased estimator of the error variance but is suitably dispersed to make it uninformative relative to the marginal likelihood. The advantage of this empirical Bayes prior for the error variance is that it is centred and dispersed sensibly and avoids the arbitrary specification of hyperparameters. The performance of the new prior is compared to that of a prior proposed previously in the literature using several simulated examples and two loss functions. For each example our paper also reports results for the model that orthogonalizes the predictor variables before performing subset selection. A real example is also investigated. The empirical results suggest that for both the simulated and real data, the performance of the estimators based on the prior proposed in our article compares favourably with that of a prior used previously in the literature.     

Quadratic estimation in mixed linear models with two variance components

Explicit expressions for Bayes invariant quadratic estimates, biased and unbiased, are presented and proved to cover the entire class of admissible estimates in the considered classes. An unbalanced genetic model is studied for demonstration.     

Kernel naive Bayes discrimination for high‐dimensional pattern recognition

Kernel discriminant analysis translates the original classification problem into feature space and solves the problem with dimension and sample size interchanged. In high‐dimension low sample size (HDLSS) settings, this reduces the ‘dimension’ to that of the sample size. For HDLSS two‐class problems we modify Mika's kernel Fisher discriminant function which – in general – remains ill‐posed even in a kernel setting; see Mika et al. (1999). We propose a kernel naive Bayes discriminant function and its smoothed version, using first‐ and second‐degree polynomial kernels. For fixed sample size and increasing dimension, we present asymptotic expressions for the kernel discriminant functions, discriminant directions and for the error probability of our kernel discriminant functions. The theoretical calculations are complemented by simulations which show the convergence of the estimators to the population quantities as the dimension grows. We illustrate the performance of the new discriminant rules, which are easy to implement, on real HDLSS data. For such data, our results clearly demonstrate the superior performance of the new discriminant rules, and especially their smoothed versions, over Mika's kernel Fisher version, and typically also over the commonly used naive Bayes discriminant rule.     

Inference and optimal design of multiple constant-stress testing for generalized half-normal distribution under type-II progressive censoring

The generalized half-normal (GHN) distribution and progressive type-II censoring are considered in this article for studying some statistical inferences of constant-stress accelerated life testing. The EM algorithm is considered to calculate the maximum likelihood estimates. Fisher information matrix is formed depending on the missing information law and it is utilized for structuring the asymptomatic confidence intervals. Further, interval estimation is discussed through bootstrap intervals. The Tierney and Kadane method, importance sampling procedure and Metropolis-Hastings algorithm are utilized to compute Bayesian estimates. Furthermore, predictive estimates for censored data and the related prediction intervals are obtained. We consider three optimality criteria to find out the optimal stress level. A real data set is used to illustrate the importance of GHN distribution as an alternative lifetime model for well-known distributions. Finally, a simulation study is provided with discussion.     

基于Bayes推理的灾害演化GERT网络模型研究

灾害、衍生和次生灾害及其相互耦合使得灾情恶化,作为灾害对抗力量的抢险、避险、控制的救险等措施使得灾害向灾情减轻的方向转化,本文对灾害的这一动态演化过程进行描述,建立一种综合考虑灾害的自然演化与抢险救灾行动的基于Bayes推理的灾害演化GERT(Graph Evaluation and Review Technique)网络模型;把GERT网络方法和贝叶斯推理工具相结合,根据获得的新信息,对GERT网络中活动参数进行动态修正,对灾害的演化路径,各种主要状态的演化概率和时间进行动态预测、预警与评价;对衍生与次生灾害、抢险救灾行动等外界行为对系统演化的影响进行定性与定量分析,并给出定量评价结论。本文提供了灾害演化定性与定量结合的分析框架与工具,揭示灾害演化机理,为灾害发展态势的预测、预警与评价提供了一种新的研究方法和研究思路。     

基于质量努力和管理努力的风险投资金融契约设计与学习机制

在风险投资中,企业家付出的努力对企业的内在价值起决定性作用,为了研究如何更好地激励企业家提升企业的内在价值,本文将企业家付出的努力分为：质量努力和管理努力。首先,本文在单期静态模型下设计最优金融契约,并研究了两种努力的效率对激励效果的影响,研究表明：在单期模型中,激励企业家付出质量努力比激励其付出管理努力更加复杂,且与企业的内在价值波动有关。进一步,在多期动态模型中引入风险投资家对企业信息的学习过程,研究表明随着企业内在价值波动率单调减小,契约的激励效果越来越显著,且学习机制的加入会激励企业家降低努力的成本系数,同时更多地提升质量努力的效率。     

Constrained Bayes and empirical Bayes estimation under random effects normal ANOVA model with balanced loss function

The paper develops constrained Bayes and empirical Bayes estimators in the random effects ANOVA model under balanced loss functions. In the balanced normal–normal model, estimators of the Bayes risks of the constrained Bayes and constrained empirical Bayes estimators are provided which are correct asymptotically up to O(m^-1)$\mathrm{O}(m^{-1})$, that is the remainder term is o(m^-1)$\mathrm{o}(m^{-1})$, m$m$ denoting the number of strata.