New modified moment estimators for the two-parameter weighted Lindley distribution

We propose a modification of the moment estimators for the two-parameter weighted Lindley distribution. The modification replaces the second sample moment (or equivalently the sample variance) by a certain sample average which is bounded on the unit interval for all values in the sample space. In this method, the estimates always exist uniquely over the entire parameter space and have consistency and asymptotic normality over the entire parameter space. The bias and mean squared error of the estimators are also examined by means of a Monte Carlo simulation study, and the empirical results show the small-sample superiority in addition to the desirable large sample properties. Monte Carlo simulation study showed that the proposed modified moment estimators have smaller biases and smaller mean-square errors than the existing moment estimators and are compared favourably with the maximum likelihood estimators in terms of bias and mean-square error. Three illustrative examples are finally presented.     

Wavelet estimation of density for censored data with censoring indicator missing at random

In this paper, we define the nonlinear wavelet estimator of density for the right censoring model with the censoring indicator missing at random (MAR), and develop its asymptotic expression for mean integrated squared error (MISE). Unlike for kernel estimator, the MISE expression of the estimator is not affected by the presence of discontinuities in the curve. Meanwhile, asymptotic normality of the estimator is established. The proposed estimator can reduce to the estimator defined by Li [Non-linear wavelet-based density estimators under random censorship. J Statist Plann Inference. 2003;117(1):35–58] when the censoring indicator MAR does not occur and a bandwidth in non-parametric estimation is close to zero. Also, we define another two nonlinear wavelet estimators of the density. A simulation is done to show the performance of the three proposed estimators.     

An analytical study of the classification of highly skewed data

This article proposes a discriminant function and an algorithm to analyze the data addressing the situation, where the data are positively skewed. The performance of the suggested algorithm based on the suggested discriminant function (LNDF) has been compared with the conventional linear discriminant function (LDF) and quadratic discriminant function (QDF) as well as with the nonparametric support vector machine (SVM) and the Random Forests (RFs) classifiers, using real and simulated datasets. A maximum reduction of approximately 81% in the error rates as compared to QDF for ten-variate data was noted. The overall results are indicative of better performance of the proposed discriminant function under certain circumstances.     

Bayesian and maximum likelihood estimations of the inverted exponentiated half logistic distribution under progressive Type II censoring

In this paper, the estimation of parameters, reliability and hazard functions of a inverted exponentiated half logistic distribution (IEHLD) from progressive Type II censored data has been considered. The Bayes estimates for progressive Type II censored IEHLD under asymmetric and symmetric loss functions such as squared error, general entropy and linex loss function are provided. The Bayes estimates for progressive Type II censored IEHLD parameters, reliability and hazard functions are also obtained under the balanced loss functions. However, the Bayes estimates cannot be obtained explicitly, Lindley approximation method and importance sampling procedure are considered to obtain the Bayes estimates. Furthermore, the asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimates is used to obtain the approximate confidence intervals. The highest posterior density credible intervals of the parameters based on importance sampling procedure are computed. Simulations are performed to see the performance of the proposed estimates. For illustrative purposes, two data sets have been analyzed.     

Asymptotic normality of in- and out-degree counts in a preferential attachment model

Preferential attachment in a directed scale-free graph is an often used paradigm for modeling the evolution of social networks. Social network data is usually given in a format allowing recovery of the number of nodes with in-degree i and out-degree j. Assuming a model with preferential attachment, formal statistical procedures for estimation can be based on such data summaries. Anticipating the statistical need for such node-based methods, we prove asymptotic normality of the node counts. Our approach is based on a martingale construction and a martingale central limit theorem.     

Stationary distributions for a class of Markov-modulated tandem fluid queues

ABSTRACT

We consider a model consisting of two fluid queues driven by the same background continuous-time Markov chain, such that the rates of change of the fluid in the second queue depend on whether the first queue is empty or not: when the first queue is nonempty, the content of the second queue increases, and when the first queue is empty, the content of the second queue decreases.

We analyze the stationary distribution of this tandem model using operator-analytic methods. The various densities (or Laplace–Stieltjes transforms thereof) and probability masses involved in this stationary distribution are expressed in terms of the stationary distribution of some embedded process. To find the latter from the (known) transition kernel, we propose a numerical procedure based on discretization and truncation. For some examples we show the method works well, although its performance is clearly affected by the quality of these approximations, both in terms of accuracy and run time.     

Estimating correlation from dichotomized normal variables

Given dichotomized data from a bivariate normal distribution, the tetrachoric correlation coefficient provides a reasonable estimate of Pearson's correlation between the underlying variables. Greer et al. [2003. A Monte Carlo evaluation of the tetrachoric correlation coefficient. Educ. Psychol. Meas. 63, 931–950] suggested that this may be the case also under suitable transformations of the margins. As a complement to their work, this paper considers the estimation of Pearson's correlation between variables that are normal, but not jointly. A small Monte Carlo study is used to assess whether various approximations of the tetrachoric correlation coefficient could be helpful in this context. The results are encouraging, in terms of both bias and mean-square error.     

Normal Mixture Quasi-maximum Likelihood Estimator for GARCH Models

Abstract.  The generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (GARCH) model has been popular in the analysis of financial time series data with high volatility. Conventionally, the parameter estimation in GARCH models has been performed based on the Gaussian quasi-maximum likelihood. However, when the innovation terms have either heavy-tailed or skewed distributions, the quasi-maximum likelihood estimator (QMLE) does not function well. In order to remedy this defect, we propose the normal mixture QMLE (NM-QMLE), which is obtained from the normal mixture quasi-likelihood, and demonstrate that the NM-QMLE is consistent and asymptotically normal. Finally, we present simulation results and a real data analysis in order to illustrate our findings.     

Cressie–Read Power-Divergence Statistics for Non-Gaussian Vector Stationary Processes

Abstract.  For a class of vector-valued non-Gaussian stationary processes, we develop the Cressie–Read power-divergence (CR) statistic approach which has been proposed for the i.i.d. case. The CR statistic includes empirical likelihood as a special case. Therefore, by adopting this CR statistic approach, the theory of estimation and testing based on empirical likelihood is greatly extended. We use an extended Whittle likelihood as score function and derive the asymptotic distribution of the CR statistic. We apply this result to estimation of autocorrelation and the AR coefficient, and get narrower confidence intervals than those obtained by existing methods. We also consider the power properties of the test based on asymptotic theory. Under a sequence of contiguous local alternatives, we derive the asymptotic distribution of the CR statistic. The problem of testing autocorrelation is discussed and we introduce some interesting properties of the local power.     

Convergence properties of sequential Bayesian D-optimal designs

We establish convergence properties of sequential Bayesian optimal designs. In particular, for sequential D-optimality under a general nonlinear location-scale model for binary experiments, we establish posterior consistency, consistency of the design measure, and the asymptotic normality of posterior following the design. We illustrate our results in the context of a particular application in the design of phase I clinical trials, namely a sequential design of Haines et al. [2003. Bayesian optimal designs for phase I clinical trials. Biometrics 59, 591–600] that incorporates an ethical constraint on overdosing.