Asymptotic behavior of central order statistics from stationary processes

In this paper, we show that central order statistics from strictly stationary and ergodic sequences are strongly consistent estimators of population quantiles provided that the quantiles are unique. We generalize this result to strictly stationary but not necessarily ergodic sequences. We also describe three types of possible asymptotic behavior of central order statistics in the case when the corresponding population quantile is not unique. We give applications of the presented results to linear processes with both absolutely continuous and discrete innovations.     

On the moments and distribution of discrete Choquet integrals from continuous distributions

We study the moments and the distribution of the discrete Choquet integral when regarded as a real function of a random sample drawn from a continuous distribution. Since the discrete Choquet integral includes weighted arithmetic means, ordered weighted averaging functions, and lattice polynomial functions as particular cases, our results encompass the corresponding results for these aggregation functions. After detailing the results obtained in [J.-L. Marichal, I. Kojadinovic, Distribution functions of linear combinations of lattice polynomials from the uniform distribution, Statistics & Probability Letters 78 (2008) 985–991] in the uniform case, we present results for the standard exponential case, show how approximations of the moments can be obtained for other continuous distributions such as the standard normal, and elaborate on the asymptotic distribution of the Choquet integral. The results presented in this work can be used to improve the interpretation of discrete Choquet integrals when employed as aggregation functions.     

On the uniform asymptotic joint normality of sample quantiles

Summary Uniform (or type (B) _d ) asymptotic normality of the joint distribution of an increasing number of sample quantiles as the sample size increases is investigated in both cases where the basic distributions are equal and are unequal. Under fairly general assumptions, sufficient conditions are derived for the asymptotic normality of sample quantiles. Type (B) _d asymptotic normality is a strictly stronger notion than the usual one which is based on the convergence in law, and the results obtained in this article will be helpful to widen the applicability of results on asymptotic normality of sample quantiles to related statistical inferences.     

Minimum Disparity Estimators for Discrete and Continuous Models

Disparities of discrete distributions are introduced as a natural and useful extension of the information-theoretic divergences. The minimum disparity point estimators are studied in regular discrete models with i.i.d. observations and their asymptotic efficiency of the first order, in the sense of Rao, is proved. These estimators are applied to continuous models with i.i.d. observations when the observation space is quantized by fixed points, or at random, by the sample quantiles of fixed orders. It is shown that the random quantization leads to estimators which are robust in the sense of Lindsay [9], and which can achieve the efficiency in the underlying continuous models provided these are regular enough.     

利用样本分位数的Logistic分布参数的渐近置信估计

基于Logistic分布的若干个样本分位数 ,利用线性回归模型建立Logistic分布位置参数及尺度参数的渐近正态且渐近无偏估计量 ,得到分布参数的渐近置信估计。     

Functional nonparametric estimation of conditional extreme quantiles

We address the estimation of quantiles from heavy-tailed distributions when functional covariate information is available and in the case where the order of the quantile converges to one as the sample size increases. Such “extreme” quantiles can be located in the range of the data or near and even beyond the boundary of the sample, depending on the convergence rate of their order to one. Nonparametric estimators of these functional extreme quantiles are introduced, their asymptotic distributions are established and their finite sample behavior is investigated.     

On the Bahadur representation of sample quantiles for sequences of φ-mixing random variables

The object of the present investigation is to show that the elegant asymptotic almost-sure representation of a sample quantile for independent and identically distributed random variables, established by Bahadur [1] holds for a stationary sequence of φ-mixing random variables. Two different orders of the remainder term, under different φ-mixing conditions, are obtained and used for proving two functional central limit theorems for sample quantiles. It is also shown that the law of iterated logarithm holds for quantiles in stationary φ-mixing processes.     

Kolmogorov-Smirnov isometries and affine automorphisms of spaces of distribution functions

In this paper we describe the structure of surjective isometries of the spaces of all absolutely continuous, singular, or discrete probability distribution functions on R equipped with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov metric. We also study the structure of affine automorphisms of the space of all distribution functions.     

Specification tests for the response distribution in generalized linear models

Goodness-of-fit tests are proposed for the case of independent observations coming from the same family of distributions but with different parameters. The most popular related context is that of generalized linear models (GLMs) where the mean of the distribution varies with regressors. In the proposed procedures, and based on suitable estimators of the parameters involved, the data are transformed to normality. Then any test for normality for i.i.d. data may be applied. The method suggested is in full generality as it may be applied to arbitrary laws with continuous or discrete distribution functions, provided that an efficient method of estimation exists for the parameters. We investigate by Monte Carlo the relative performance of classical tests based on the empirical distribution function, in comparison to a corresponding test which instead of the empirical distribution function, utilizes the empirical characteristic function. Standard measures of goodness-of-fit often used in the context of GLM are also included in the comparison. The paper concludes with several real-data examples.     

On Affine Equivariant Multivariate Quantiles

An extension of univariate quantiles in the multivariate set-up has been proposed and studied. The proposed approach is affine equivariant, and it is based on an adaptive transformation retransformation procedure. Behadur type linear representations of the proposed quantiles are established and consequently asymptotic distributions are also derived. As applications of these multivariate quantiles, we develop some affine equivariant quantile contour plots which can be used to study the geometry of the data cloud as well as the underlying probability distribution and to detect outliers. These quantiles can also be used to construct affine invariant versions of multivariate Q-Q plots which are useful in checking how well a given multivariate probability distribution fits the data and for comparing the distributions of two data sets. We illustrate these applications with some simulated and real data sets. We also indicate a way of extending the notion of univariate L-estimates and trimmed means in the multivariate set-up using these affine equivariant quantiles.     

Reliability and expectation bounds for coherent systems with exchangeable components

Sharp upper and lower bounds are obtained for the reliability functions and the expectations of lifetimes of coherent systems based on dependent exchangeable absolutely continuous components with a given marginal distribution function, by use of the concept of Samaniego's signature. We first show that the distribution of any coherent system based on exchangeable components with absolutely continuous joint distribution is a convex combination of distributions of order statistics (equivalent to the k-out-of-n systems) with the weights identical with the values of the Samaniego signature of the system. This extends the Samaniego representation valid for the case of independent and identically distributed components. Combining the representation with optimal bounds on linear combinations of distribution functions of order statistics from dependent identically distributed samples, we derive the corresponding reliability and expectation bounds, dependent on the signature of the system and marginal distribution of dependent components. We also present the sequences of exchangeable absolutely continuous joint distributions of components which attain the bounds in limit. As an application, we obtain the reliability bounds for all the coherent systems with three and four exchangeable components, expressed in terms of the parent marginal reliability function and specify the respective expectation bounds for exchangeable exponential components, comparing them with the lifetime expectations of systems with independent and identically distributed exponential components.     

An asymptotic result on principal points for univariate distributions

We give an asymptotic result for principal points of univariate distributions, as defined in Flury (1990). Principal points are a generalization of the mean and provide a natural way to approximate a continuous distribution. We show that for a given density $si:f$esi:it is asymptotically optimal to take the quantiles of the density proportional to$si:f$esi:i^1/3 as principal points.     

φ-混合样本下有限个分位数估计的联合渐近分布

本文研究了φ-混合样本下总体的有限个分位数核估计的渐近性质.利用分块技术证明了φ-混合样本下总体的有限个分位数核估计的联合渐近分布为多元正态分布,推广了文献[16]的相关结果.     

Asymptotic expansions for the distribution of the crossing number of a strip by a Markov-modulated random walk

We obtain complete asymptotic expansions for the distribution of the crossing number of a strip in n steps by sample paths of a random walk defined on a finite Markov chain. We assume that the Cramér condition holds for the distribution of jumps and the width of the strip grows with n. The method consists in finding factorization representations of the moment generating functions of the distributions under study, isolating the main terms in the asymptotics of the representations, and inverting those main terms by the modified saddle-point method.     

Mode estimation for discrete distributions

The problem of estimating the mode of a discrete distribution is considered. New characterizations of discrete unimodal and multi-modal distributions are obtained. The proposed mode estimator is essentially the sample mode, modulo appropriate modifications when the sample mode is not well defined. In the case of i.i.d. observations coming from a unimodal discrete distribution, our proposed mode estimator is shown to possess a number of strong asymptotic properties. Many of these results extend to the case of multi-modal discrete distributions as well. Our method also applies — and we have similar asymptotic results — to the problem of mode estimation based on finitely many observations on a Markov chain whose equilibrium distribution is the underlying unimodal distribution. For unimodal discrete distributions, we also propose a consistent large sample test of mode based on the proposed statistic. Applications of mode estimation problem in Monte-Carlo optimization problem using the Hastings Metropolis chain and in prediction problem using binary response variable, specially in the context of dose-response experiments, are also illustrated.     

Nonparametric inference in multiplicative intensity model by discrete time observation

This paper deals with nonparametric inference problems in the multiplicative intensity model for counting processes. We propose a Nelson–Aalen type estimator based on discrete observation. The functional asymptotic normality of the estimator is proved. The limit process is the same as that in the continuous observation case, thus the proposed estimator based on discrete observation has the same properties as the Nelson–Aalen estimator based on continuous observation. For example, the asymptotic efficiency of proposed estimator is valid based on less information than the continuous observation case. A Kaplan–Meier type estimator is also discussed. Nonparametric goodness of fit test is considered, and an asymptotically distribution free test is proposed.     

Robust estimation for nonparametric generalized regression

This paper focuses on nonparametric regression estimation for the parameters of a discrete or continuous distribution, such as the Poisson or Gamma distributions, when anomalous data are present. The proposal is a natural extension of robust methods developed in the setting of parametric generalized linear models. Robust estimators bounding either large values of the deviance or of the Pearson residuals are introduced and their asymptotic behaviour is derived. Through a Monte Carlo study, for the Poisson and Gamma distributions, the finite properties of the proposed procedures are investigated and their performance is compared with that of the classical ones. A resistant cross-validation method to choose the smoothing parameter is also considered.     

On testing equality of pairwise rank correlations in a multivariate random vector

Spearman’s rank-correlation coefficient (also called Spearman’s rho) represents one of the best-known measures to quantify the degree of dependence between two random variables. As a copula-based dependence measure, it is invariant with respect to the distribution’s univariate marginal distribution functions. In this paper, we consider statistical tests for the hypothesis that all pairwise Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients in a multivariate random vector are equal. The tests are nonparametric and their asymptotic distributions are derived based on the asymptotic behavior of the empirical copula process. Only weak assumptions on the distribution function, such as continuity of the marginal distributions and continuous partial differentiability of the copula, are required for obtaining the results. A nonparametric bootstrap method is suggested for either estimating unknown parameters of the test statistics or for determining the associated critical values. We present a simulation study in order to investigate the power of the proposed tests. The results are compared to a classical parametric test for equal pairwise Pearson’s correlation coefficients in a multivariate random vector. The general setting also allows the derivation of a test for stochastic independence based on Spearman’s rho.     

Asymptotic Expansions for the Distribution of the Crossing Number of a Strip by Sample Paths of a Random Walk

The complete asymptotic expansions are obtained for the distribution of the crossing number of a strip in n steps by sample paths of an integer-valued random walk with zero mean. We suppose that the Cramer condition holds for the distribution of jumps and the width of strip increases together with n; the results are proven under various conditions on the width growth rate. The method is based on the Wiener–Hopf factorization; it consists in finding representations of the moment generating functions of the distributions under study, the distinguishing of the main terms of the asymptotics of these representations, and the subsequent inversion of the main terms by the modified saddle-point method.     

Superconvergence to the central limit and failure of the Cramér theorem for free random variables

Summary We show that convergence of the semicircle law in the free central limit theorem for bounded random variables is much better than expected. Thus, the distributions which tend to the semicircle become absolutely continuous in finite time, and the densities converge in a very strong sense. We also show that the semicircle law is the free convolution of laws which are not semicircular, thus proving that Cramér's classical result for the normal distribution does not have a free counterpart. The authors were partially supported by grants from the National Science Foundation