The maximum full and partial likelihood estimators in the proportional hazard model

Summary The maximum full likelihood estimator in the proportional hazard model is explored in relation to the maximum partial likelihood estimator. In the scalar parameter case both the estimators have a common sign, and the absolute value of the former is strictly greater than that of the latter except for trivial cases. We point out also that the maximum full likelihood estimator after a simple modification of the likelihood equation provides a good approximation to the maximum partial likelihood estimator. Similar results are valid for the likelihood ratio tests. The Institute of Statistical Mathematics     

分数布朗运动随机微分方程的MLE和Bayes估计的大偏差不等式

本文研究了分数布朗运动随机微分方程未知参数的极大似然估计和Bayes估计的偏差不等式.在一定的正则条件下.利用似然方法给出了这两个估计量的大偏差不等式.     

线性模型和线性EV模型中的T-型回归估计和EM算法

本文对于线性函数关系EV模型定义了$t$\,-型回归估计, 并对于普通线性模型和线性函数关系EV模型给出了计算$t$\,-型回归估计的EM算法, 同时获得了估计的相合性\bd 模拟结果表明由EM算法获得的$t$\,-型回归估计的表现良好.     

Estimating parameters in diffusion processes using an approximate maximum likelihood approach

We present an approximate Maximum Likelihood estimator for univariate Itô stochastic differential equations driven by Brownian motion, based on numerical calculation of the likelihood function. The transition probability density of a stochastic differential equation is given by the Kolmogorov forward equation, known as the Fokker-Planck equation. This partial differential equation can only be solved analytically for a limited number of models, which is the reason for applying numerical methods based on higher order finite differences.The approximate likelihood converges to the true likelihood, both theoretically and in our simulations, implying that the estimator has many nice properties. The estimator is evaluated on simulated data from the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model and a non-linear extension of the Chan-Karolyi-Longstaff-Sanders model. The estimates are similar to the Maximum Likelihood estimates when these can be calculated and converge to the true Maximum Likelihood estimates as the accuracy of the numerical scheme is increased. The estimator is also compared to two benchmarks; a simulation-based estimator and a Crank-Nicholson scheme applied to the Fokker-Planck equation, and the proposed estimator is still competitive.     

A Functional EM Algorithm for Mixing Density Estimation via Nonparametric Penalized Likelihood Maximization

When the true mixing density is known to be continuous, the maximum likelihood estimate of the mixing density does not provide a satisfying answer due to its degeneracy. Estimation of mixing densities is a well-known ill-posed indirect problem. In this article, we propose to estimate the mixing density by maximizing a penalized likelihood and call the resulting estimate the nonparametric maximum penalized likelihood estimate (NPMPLE). Using theory and methods from the calculus of variations and differential equations, a new functional EM algorithm is derived for computing the NPMPLE of the mixing density. In the algorithm, maximizers in M-steps are found by solving an ordinary differential equation with boundary conditions numerically. Simulation studies show the algorithm outperforms other existing methods such as the popular EMS algorithm. Some theoretical properties of the NPMPLE and the algorithm are also discussed. Computer code used in this article is available online.     

Statistical inference for coherent systems with Weibull distributed component lifetimes under complete and incomplete information

Point estimators for the parameters of the component lifetime distribution in coherent systems are evolved assuming to be independently and identically Weibull distributed component lifetimes. We study both complete and incomplete information under continuous monitoring of the essential component lifetimes. First, we prove that the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) under complete information based on progressively Type‐II censored system lifetimes uniquely exists and we present two approaches to compute the estimates. Furthermore, we consider an ad hoc estimator, a max‐probability plan estimator and the MLE for the parameters under incomplete information. In order to compute the MLEs, we consider a direct maximization of the likelihood and an EM‐algorithm–type approach, respectively. In all cases, we illustrate the results by simulations of the five‐component bridge system and the 10‐component parallel system, respectively.     

Direct Likelihood Evaluation for the Renewal Hawkes Process

An interesting extension of the widely applied Hawkes self-exiting point process, the renewal Hawkes (RHawkes) process, was recently proposed by Wheatley, Filimonov, and Sornette, which has the potential to significantly widen the application domains of the self-exciting point processes. However, they claimed that computation of the likelihood of the RHawkes process requires exponential time and therefore is practically impossible. They proposed two expectation–maximization (EM) type algorithms to compute the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the model parameters. Because of the fundamental role of likelihood in statistical inference, a practically feasible method for likelihood evaluation is highly desirable. In this article, we provide an algorithm that evaluates the likelihood of the RHawkes process in quadratic time, a drastic improvement from the exponential time claimed by Wheatley, Filimonov, and Sornette. We demonstrate the superior performance of the resulting MLEs of the model relative to the EM estimators through simulations. We also present a computationally efficient procedure to calculate the Rosenblatt residuals of the process for goodness-of-fit assessment, and a simple yet efficient procedure for future event prediction. The proposed methodologies were applied on real data from seismology and finance. An R package implementing the proposed methodologies is included in the supplementary materials.     

带辅助协变量的分组相关失效时间数据的边际模型

本文研究了带有辅助协变量的分组相关失效时间数据的边际风险模型,获得了未知参数的伪偏似然估计,证明了所得估计的相合性和渐进正态性.     

风险非同质时索赔次数的分布拟合及其EM算法

本文运用EM算法,对于风险非同质时索赔次数的分布,分别给出了离散型多元风险模型,混合两伽玛模型参数的极大似然估计的迭代公式,并将其应用到一个实际问题中去,效果较好。     

半参数广义线性混合效应模型的估计及其渐近性质

半参数广义线性混合效应模型在心理学、生物育种、医学等领域有广泛的应用. Zhang(1998)用最大惩罚似然函数的方法(MPLE)对模型的参数和非参数部分进行了估计, 而Zhang (1998) MPLE方法只适用于正态数据模型. 对于泊松等常用的模型, 常的方法是将随机效应看作缺失数据, 再引入EM算法. 本文基于McCulloch 1997)提出的MCNR算法, 此算法推广到半参数广义线性混合效应模型中并得到相应的估计算法. 于非参数部分, 本文采用P样条拟合并利用GCV方法选取光滑参数, 时证明了所得估计的相合性和渐近正态性. 最后, 过模拟和实例与其它算法作比较验证本文估计方法的有效性.     

Robust Estimation in Partial Linear Mixed Model for Longitudinal Data

In this article, robust generalized estimating equation for the analysis of partial linear mixed model for longitudinal data is used. The authors approximate the nonparametric function by a regression spline. Under some regular conditions, the asymptotic properties of the estimators are obtained. To avoid the computation of high-dimensional integral, a robust Monte Carlo Newton-Raphson algorithm is used. Some simulations are carried out to study the performance of the proposed robust estimators. In addition, the authors also study the robustness and the efficiency of the proposed estimators by simulation. Finally, two real longitudinal data sets are analyzed.     

Simple error estimators for the Galerkin BEM for some hypersingular integral equation in 2D

A posteriori error estimation is an important tool for reliable and efficient Galerkin boundary element computations. For hypersingular integral equations in 2D with a positive-order Sobolev space, we analyse the mathematical relation between the (h???h/2)-error estimator from [S. Ferraz-Leite and D. Praetorius, Simple a posteriori error estimators for the h-version of the boundary element method, Computing 83 (2008), pp. 135–162], the two-level error estimator from [M. Maischak, P. Mund, and E. Stephan, Adaptive multilevel BEM for acoustic scattering, 585 Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 150 (1997), pp. 351–367], and the averaging error estimator from [C. Carstensen and D. Praetorius, Averaging techniques for the a posteriori bem error control for a hypersingular integral equation in two dimensions, SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 29 (2007), pp. 782–810]. All of these a posteriori error estimators are simple in the following sense: first, the numerical analysis can be done within the same mathematical framework, namely localization techniques for the energy norm. Second, there is almost no implementational overhead for the realization.     

Estimating common vector parameters in interlaboratory studies

The primary goal of this work is to extend two methods of random effects models to multiparameter situation. These methods comprise the DerSimonian-Laird estimator, stemming from meta-analysis, and the Mandel-Paule algorithm widely used in interlaboratory studies. The maximum likelihood estimators are also discussed. Two methods of assessing the uncertainty of these estimators are given.     

Kullback-Leibler Information Consistent Estimation for Censored Data

This paper is intended as an investigation of parametric estimation for the randomly right censored data. In parametric estimation, the Kullback-Leibler information is used as a measure of the divergence of a true distribution generating a data relative to a distribution in an assumed parametric model M. When the data is uncensored, maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) is a consistent estimator of minimizing the Kullback-Leibler information, even if the assumed model M does not contain the true distribution. We call this property minimum Kullback-Leibler information consistency (MKLI-consistency). However, the MLE obtained by maximizing the likelihood function based on the censored data is not MKLI-consistent. As an alternative to the MLE, Oakes (1986, Biometrics, 42, 177–182) proposed an estimator termed approximate maximum likelihood estimator (AMLE) due to its computational advantage and potential for robustness. We show MKLI-consistency and asymptotic normality of the AMLE under the misspecification of the parametric model. In a simulation study, we investigate mean square errors of these two estimators and an estimator which is obtained by treating a jackknife corrected Kaplan-Meier integral as the log-likelihood. On the basis of the simulation results and the asymptotic results, we discuss comparison among these estimators. We also derive information criteria for the MLE and the AMLE under censorship, and which can be used not only for selecting models but also for selecting estimation procedures.     

Efficiency of Monte Carlo EM and Simulated Maximum Likelihood in Two-Stage Hierarchical Models

Likelihood estimation in hierarchical models is often complicated by the fact that the likelihood function involves an analytically intractable integral. Numerical approximation to this integral is an option but it is generally not recommended when the integral dimension is high. An alternative approach is based on the ideas of Monte Carlo integration, which approximates the intractable integral by an empirical average based on simulations. This article investigates the efficiency of two Monte Carlo estimation methods, the Monte Carlo EM (MCEM) algorithm and simulated maximum likelihood (SML). We derive the asymptotic Monte Carlo errors of both methods and show that, even under the optimal SML importance sampling distribution, the efficiency of SML decreases rapidly (relative to that of MCEM) as the missing information about the unknown parameter increases. We illustrate our results in a simple mixed model example and perform a simulation study which shows that, compared to MCEM, SML can be extremely inefficient in practical applications.     

An Information-theoretic Approach to the Effective Usage of Auxiliary Information from Survey Data

In this paper, we propose an information-theoretic approach to the effective usage of auxiliary information from survey data, which is suitable for both simple and complex survey data. Our estimator under simple random sampling without replacement will be consistent and asymptotically normal. We show that the resulting estimates have smaller asymptotic variances than the usual estimates which do not use auxiliary information. For more complex survey designs, the resulting estimator is in essence asymptotically equivalent to a pseudo empirical likelihood estimator. Results of a limited simulation study show that the proposed estimators perform well among a number of competitors.     

二元广义Weibull模型(英文)

本文研究了一个二元广义Weibull分布模型,其边缘分布分别是一元广义Weibull分布.利用EM算法,得到了未知参数的极大似然估计和观测Fisher信息矩阵.     

Semiparametric estimation of average treatment effect through a random coefficient dummy endogenous variable model

This paper provides an estimation procedure for average treatment effect through a random coefficient dummy endogenous variable model. A leading example of the model is estimating the effect of a training program on earnings. The model is composed of two equations: an outcome equation and a decision equation. Given the linear restriction in outcome and decision equations, Chen (1999) provided a distribution-free estimation procedure under conditional symmetric error distributions. In this paper we extend Chen’s estimator by relaxing the linear index into a nonparametric function, which greatly reduces the risk of model misspecification. A two-step approach is proposed: the first step uses a nonparametric regression estimator for the decision variable, and the second step uses an instrumental variables approach to estimate average treatment effect in the outcome equation. The proposed estimator is shown to be consistent and asymptotically normally distributed. Furthermore, we investigate the finite performance of our estimator by a Monte Carlo study and also use our estimator to study the return of college education in different periods of China. The estimates seem more reasonable than those of other commonly used estimators.     

A Cautionary Note on Likelihood Ratio Tests in Mixture Models

We show that iterative methods for maximizing the likelihood in a mixture of exponentials model depend strongly on their particular implementation. Different starting strategies and stopping rules yield completely different estimators of the parameters. This is demonstrated for the likelihood ratio test of homogeneity against two-component exponential mixtures, when the test statistic is calculated by the EM algorithm.