On consistent testing for serial correlation of unknown form in vector time series models

Multivariate autoregressive models with exogenous variables (VARX) are often used in econometric applications. Many properties of the basic statistics for this class of models rely on the assumption of independent errors. Using results of Hong (Econometrica 64 (1996) 837), we propose a new test statistic for checking the hypothesis of non-correlation or independence in the Gaussian case. The test statistic is obtained by comparing the spectral density of the errors under the null hypothesis of independence with a kernel-based spectral density estimator. The asymptotic distribution of the statistic is derived under the null hypothesis. This test generalizes the portmanteau test of Hosking (J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 75 (1980) 602). The consistency of the test is established for a general class of static regression models with autocorrelated errors. Its asymptotic slope is derived and the asymptotic relative efficiency within the class of possible kernels is also investigated. Finally, the level and power of the resulting tests are also studied by simulation.     

Local Whittle likelihood estimators and tests for non-Gaussian stationary processes

In this paper, we propose a local Whittle likelihood estimator for spectral densities of non-Gaussian processes and a local Whittle likelihood ratio test statistic for the problem of testing whether the spectral density of a non-Gaussian stationary process belongs to a parametric family or not. Introducing a local Whittle likelihood of a spectral density f _θ (λ) around λ, we propose a local estimator [^(q)] = [^(q)] (l){\hat{\theta } = \hat{\theta } (\lambda ) } of θ which maximizes the local Whittle likelihood around λ, and use f_{[^(q)] (l)} (l){f_{\hat{\theta } (\lambda )} (\lambda )} as an estimator of the true spectral density. For the testing problem, we use a local Whittle likelihood ratio test statistic based on the local Whittle likelihood estimator. The asymptotics of these statistics are elucidated. It is shown that their asymptotic distributions do not depend on non-Gaussianity of the processes. Because our models include nonlinear stationary time series models, we can apply the results to stationary GARCH processes. Advantage of the proposed estimator is demonstrated by a few simulated numerical examples.     

On the cusum of squares test for variance change in nonstationary and nonparametric time series models

In this paper we consider the problem of testing for a variance change in nonstationary and nonparametric time series models. The models under consideration are the unstable AR(q) model and the fixed design nonparametric regression model with a strong mixing error process. In order to perform a test, we employ the cusum of squares test introduced by Inclán and Tiao (1994,J. Amer. Statist. Assoc.,89, 913–923). It is shown that the limiting distribution of the test statistic is the sup of a standard Brownian bridge as seen in iid random samples. Simulation results are provided for illustration.     

One‐way analysis of variance with long memory errors and its application to stock return data

Recent empirical results indicate that many financial time series, including stock volatilities, often have long‐range dependencies. Comparing volatilities in stock returns is a crucial part of the risk management of stock investing. This paper proposes two test statistics for testing the equality of mean volatilities of stock returns using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) model with long memory errors. They are modified versions of the ordinary F statistic used in the ANOVA models with independently and identically distributed errors. One has a form of the ordinary F statistic multiplied by a correction factor, which reflects slowly decaying autocorrelations, that is, long‐range dependence. The other is a test statistic such that the degrees of freedom of the denominator in the ordinary F test statistic is calibrated by the so‐called effective sample size. Empirical sizes and powers of the proposed test statistics are examined via Monte Carlo simulation. An application to German stock returns is presented. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sequential estimation in regression models using analogues of trimmed means

A sequential procedure is proposed for constructing a fixed-size confidence region for the parameters of a linear regression model. The procedure is based on certain regression analogues of trimmed means, as formulated by Welsh (1987,Ann. Statist.,15, 20–36), rather than least squares estimates. For error distributions with continuous, symmetric density and some moment higher than fourth finite, if the design points of the model are bounded, then the procedure is both asymptotically consistent and asymptotically efficient as the size of the region approaches zero.Research supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grants DMS 85-03321 and 88-02556 and by the Air Force under Grant AFOSR-87-0041.     

Identification of Refined ARMA Echelon Form Models for Multivariate Time Series

In the present article, we are interested in the identification of canonical ARMA echelon form models represented in a “refined” form. An identification procedure for such models is given by Tsay (J. Time Ser. Anal.10(1989), 357-372). This procedure is based on the theory of canonical analysis. We propose an alternative procedure which does not rely on this theory. We show initially that an examination of the linear dependency structure of the rows of the Hankel matrix of correlations, with originkin (i.e., with correlation at lagkin position (1, 1)), allows us not only to identify the Kronecker indicesn₁, …, n_d, whenk=1, but also to determine the autoregressive ordersp₁, …, p_d, as well as the moving average ordersq₁, …, q_dof the ARMA echelon form model by settingk>1 andk<1, respectively. Successive test procedures for the identification of the structural parametersn_i,p_i, andq_iare then presented. We show, under the corresponding null hypotheses, that the test statistics employed asymptotically follow chi-square distributions. Furthermore, under the alternative hypothesis, these statistics are unbounded in probability and are of the formNδ{1+o_p(1)}, whereδis a positive constant andNdenotes the number of observations. Finally, the behaviour of the proposed identification procedure is illustrated with a simulated series from a given ARMA model.     

A Partial Empirical Likelihood Based Score Test Under a Semiparametric Finite Mixture Model

We propose a score statistic to test the null hypothesis that the two-component density functions are equal under a semiparametric finite mixture model. The proposed score test is based on a partial empirical likelihood function under an I-sample semiparametric model. The proposed score statistic has an asymptotic chi-squared distribution under the null hypothesis and an asymptotic noncentral chi-squared distribution under local alternatives to the null hypothesis. Moreover, we show that the proposed score test is asymptotically equivalent to a partial empirical likelihood ratio test and a Wald test. We present some results on a simulation study.     

Test for parameter change based on the estimator minimizing density-based divergence measures

In this paper we consider the problem of testing for a parameter change based on the cusum test proposed by Leeet al. (2003,Scandinavian Journal of Statistics,30, 781–796). The cusum test statistic is constructed via employing the estimator minimizing density-based divergence measures. It is shown that under regularity conditions, the test statistic has the limiting distribution of the sup of standard Brownian bridge. Simulation results demonstrate that the cusum test is robust when outliers exist.     

Comparison of ‘Tail Method’ Exact Confidence Limits for the Difference of Binomial Probabilities

Suppose that Y ₁ and Y ₂ are independent and have Binomial(n ₁,p ₁) and Binomial (n ₂,p ₂) distributions respectively. Also suppose that θ=p ₁−p ₂ is the parameter of interest. We consider the problem of finding an exact confidence limit (either upper or lower) for θ. The solution to this problem is very important for statistical practice in the health and life sciences. The ‘tail method’ provides a solution to this problem. This method finds the exact confidence limit by exact inversion of a hypothesis test based on a specified test statistic. Buehler (J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 52, 482–493, 1957) described, for the first time, a finite-sample optimality property of this confidence limit. Consequently, this confidence limit is sometimes called a Buehler confidence limit. An early tail method confidence limit for θ was described by Santner and Snell (J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 75, 386–394, 1980) who used the maximum likelihood estimator of θ as the test statistic. This confidence limit is known to be very inefficient (see e.g. Cytel Software, StatXact, version 6, vol. 2, 2004). The efficiency of the confidence limit resulting from the tail method depends greatly on the test statistic on which it is based. We use the results of Kabaila (Stat. Probab. Lett. 52, 145–154, 2001) and Kabaila and Lloyd (Aust. New Zealand J. Stat. 46, 463–469, 2004, J. Stat. Plan. Inference 136, 3145–3155, 2006) to provide a detailed explanation for the dependence of this efficiency on the test statistic. We consider test statistics that are estimators, Z-statistics and approximate upper confidence limits. This explanation is used to find the situations in which the tail method exact confidence limits based on test statistics that are estimators or Z-statistics are least efficient.     

A proof of independent Bartlett correctability of nested likelihood ratio tests

It is well known that likelihood ratio statistic is Bartlett correctable. We consider decomposition of a likelihood ratio statistic into 1 degree of freedom components based on sequence of nested hypotheses. We give a proof of the fact that the component likelihood ratio statistics are distributed mutually independently up to the order O(1/n) and each component is independently Bartlett correctable. This was implicit in Lawley (1956, Biometrika, 43, 295–303) and proved in Bickel and Ghosh (1990, Ann. Statist., 18, 1070–1090) using a Bayes method. We present a more direct frequentist proof.     

Loss of information of a statistic for a family of non-regular distributions

In the non-regular case, the asymptotic loss of amount of information (extended to as Rényi measure) associated with a statistic is discussed. It is shown that the second order asymptotic loss of information in reducing to a statistic consisting of extreme values and an asymptotically ancillary statistic vanishes. This result corresponds to the fact that the statistic is second order asymptotically sufficient in the sense of Akahira (1991, Metron, 49, 133–143). Some examples on truncated distributions are also given.     

Asymptotic expansion of the null distribution of test statistic for linear hypothesis in nonnormal linear model

This paper is concerned with the null distribution of test statistic T for testing a linear hypothesis in a linear model without assuming normal errors. The test statistic includes typical ANOVA test statistics. It is known that the null distribution of T converges to χ² when the sample size n is large under an adequate condition of the design matrix. We extend this result by obtaining an asymptotic expansion under general condition. Next, asymptotic expansions of one- and two-way test statistics are obtained by using this general one. Numerical accuracies are studied for some approximations of percent points and actual test sizes of T for two-way ANOVA test case based on the limiting distribution and an asymptotic expansion.     

PLM中误差方差未知时的GLR

本文检验部分线性回归模型(PLM)中,误差的方差未知时,函数部分是否是线性函数,在备择假设下,先用局部多项式方法估计出函数部分,再估计参数部分.计算出了零假设下广义似然比(GLR)检验统计量的表达式,给出了它的渐近分布,并对结果进行了模拟.     

Checking the adequacy of the multivariate semiparametric location shift model

Let X,X₁,…,X_m,…, Y,Y₁,…,Y_n,… be independent d-dimensional random vectors, where the X_j are i.i.d. copies of X, and the Y_k are i.i.d. copies of Y. We study a class of consistent tests for the hypothesis that Y has the same distribution as X+μ for some unspecified . The test statistic L is a weighted integral of the squared modulus of the difference of the empirical characteristic functions of and Y₁,…,Y_n, where is an estimator of μ. An alternative representation of L is given in terms of an L²-distance between two nonparametric density estimators. The finite-sample and asymptotic null distribution of L is independent of μ. Carried out as a bootstrap or permutation procedure, the test is asymptotically of a given size, irrespective of the unknown underlying distribution. A large-scale simulation study shows that the permutation procedure performs better than the bootstrap.     

部分线性模型中的非参数部分的线性性检验

In this paper,we propose the test statistic to check whether the nonpara- metric function in partially linear models is linear or not.We estimate the nonpara- metric function in alternative by using the local linear method,and then estimate the parameters by the two stage method.The test statistic under the null hypothesis is calculated,and it is shown to be asymptotically normal.     

Compact Matrix Expressions for Generalized Wald Tests of Equality of Moment Vectors

Asymptotic chi-squared test statistics for testing the equality of moment vectors are developed. The test statistics proposed are generalized Wald test statistics that specialize for different settings by inserting an appropriate asymptotic variance matrix of sample moments. Scaled test statistics are also considered for dealing with nonstandard conditions. The specialization will be carried out for testing the equality of multinomial populations, and the equality of variance and correlation matrices for both normal and nonnormal data. When testing the equality of correlation matrices, a scaled version of the normal theory chi-squared statistic is proven to be an asymptotically exact chi-squared statistic in the case of elliptical data.     

Modified cramer-von mises goodness-of-fit tests for spectral distribution functions

Modifications to the Cramer-von Mises goodness-of-fit test statistic for spectral distributions are discussed. The modifications consist of inserting weight functions into the usual sto¬chastic integral for the test statistic. Conditions on the weight function are given under which the integral of the weighted square of the difference between the empirical and theoretical spectral distribution functions converges in distribution to the corresponding integral of a process related to Brownian Motion. The distributions of the test statistic under certain alternatives to the null hypothesis are also discussed. A discussion is given of the large sample distributions for weight function of the form ψ(t) = at ^k ,k < –2.     

A formula for deficiency (L-andR-tests)

In this paper an analogue of the formulas [D. M. Chibisov,Teor. Veroyatn. Primen.,30, 269–288 (1985);Izv. Akad. Nauk UzSSR,6, 23–30 (1982)] for the difference between the power of a given asymptotically efficient test and that of the most powerful test is justified for one-sample L-and R-tests, i.e., tests based on linear combinations of order statistics and linear rank statistics. This formula directly yields the Hodges-Lehmann deficiency of corresponding tests. A general theorem is stated which is applied to L-and R-tests. The explicit expressions given by this formula for L- and R-tests are also presented. The expression related to R-tests agrees with the one obtained in [W. Albers, P. J. Bickel, and W. R. Van Zwet,Ann. Statist.,4, 108–156 (1976);6, 1170–1171 (1978)]. We present here a nontechnical (heuristic) proof of these results. Supported by the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research (grant No. 93-011-1446). Proceedings of the XVI Seminar on Stability Problems for Stochastic Models, Part II, Eger, Hungary, 1994.     

On Mann–Whitney tests for comparing sojourn time distributions when the transition times are right censored

We consider the problem of comparing sojourn time distributions of a transient state in a general multistate system in two samples (groups) when the transition times are right censored. Using the reweighting principle, a two-sample Mann–Whitney type of $U$ -statistic is constructed that compares only the uncensored sojourn times from the two distributions. A second Mann–Whitney type of statistic is also constructed using a different reweighting that allows for comparisons when one of the two sojourn times is either uncensored or singly censored. Both these statistics are asymptotically unbiased, asymptotically normally distributed and reduce to the standard Mann–Whitney statistic when there is no censoring. A test of equality of sojourn time distributions in two independent samples is constructed by symmetrizing the second statistic. The testing methodology is illustrated using a data set on kidney disease patients.     

On the distribution of the total number of run lengths

In the present paper, we study the distribution of a statistic utilizing the runs length of “reasonably long” series of alike elements (success runs) in a sequence of binary trials. More specifically, we are looking at the sum of exact lengths of subsequences (strings) consisting ofk or more consecutive successes (k is a given positive integer). The investigation of the statistic of interest is accomplished by exploiting an appropriate generalization of the Markov chain embedding technique introduced by Fu and Koutras (1994,J. Amer. Statist. Assoc.,89, 1050–1058) and Koutras and Alexandrou (1995,Ann. Inst. Statist. Math.,47, 743–766). In addition, we explore the conditional distribution of the same statistic, given the number of successes and establish statistical tests for the detection of the null hypothesis of randomness versus the alternative hypothesis of systematic clustering of successes in a sequence of binary outcomes. Research supported by General Secretary of Research and Technology of Greece under grand PENED 2001.