Asset allocation for a DC pension fund with stochastic income and mortality risk: A multi-period mean–variance framework

This paper investigates an asset allocation problem for defined contribution pension funds with stochastic income and mortality risk under a multi-period mean–variance framework. Different from most studies in the literature where the expected utility is maximized or the risk measured by the quadratic mean deviation is minimized, we consider synthetically both to enhance the return and to control the risk by the mean–variance criterion. First, we obtain the analytical expressions for the efficient investment strategy and the efficient frontier by adopting the Lagrange dual theory, the state variable transformation technique and the stochastic optimal control method. Then, we discuss some special cases under our model. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the results obtained in this paper.     

On sparse estimation for semiparametric linear transformation models

Semiparametric linear transformation models have received much attention due to their high flexibility in modeling survival data. A useful estimating equation procedure was recently proposed by Chen et al. (2002) [21] for linear transformation models to jointly estimate parametric and nonparametric terms. They showed that this procedure can yield a consistent and robust estimator. However, the problem of variable selection for linear transformation models has been less studied, partially because a convenient loss function is not readily available under this context. In this paper, we propose a simple yet powerful approach to achieve both sparse and consistent estimation for linear transformation models. The main idea is to derive a profiled score from the estimating equation of Chen et al. [21], construct a loss function based on the profile scored and its variance, and then minimize the loss subject to some shrinkage penalty. Under regularity conditions, we have shown that the resulting estimator is consistent for both model estimation and variable selection. Furthermore, the estimated parametric terms are asymptotically normal and can achieve a higher efficiency than that yielded from the estimation equations. For computation, we suggest a one-step approximation algorithm which can take advantage of the LARS and build the entire solution path efficiently. Performance of the new procedure is illustrated through numerous simulations and real examples including one microarray data.     

Estimation of production risk and risk preference function: a nonparametric approach

While estimating parametric production models with risk, one faces two main problems. The first problem is associated with the choice of functional forms on the mean production function and the risk (variance) function. The second problem is associated with the specification of the risk preference function. In a parametric model the researcher chooses some ad hoc functional form on all these. It is obvious that the estimated (i) technology (mean production function), (ii) risk and (iii) risk preference functions are affected by the choice of functional form. In this paper we consider an estimation framework that avoids assuming parametric functions on all three. In particular, this paper deals with nonparametric estimation of the technology, risk and risk preferences of producers when they face uncertainty in production. Uncertainty is modeled in the context of production theory where producers’ maximize expected utility of anticipated profit. A multi-stage nonparametric estimation procedure is used to estimate the production function, the output risk function and the risk preference function. No distributional assumption is made on the random term representing production uncertainty. No functional form is assumed on the underlying utility function. Rice farming data from Philippines are used for an empirical application of the proposed model. Rice farmers are, in general, found to be risk averse; labor is risk decreasing while fertilizer, land and materials are risk increasing. The mean risk premium is about 3% of mean profit.     

Development of the parametric tolerance modeling and optimization schemes and cost-effective solutions

Most of previous research on tolerance optimization seeks the optimal tolerance allocation with process parameters such as fixed process mean and variance. This research, however, differs from the previous studies in two ways. First, an integrated optimization scheme is proposed to determine both the optimal settings of those process parameters and the optimal tolerance simultaneously which is called a parametric tolerance optimization problem in this paper. Second, most tolerance optimization models require rigorous optimization processes using numerical methods, since closed-form solutions are rarely found. This paper shows how the Lambert W function, which is often used in physics, can be applied efficiently to this parametric tolerance optimization problem. By using the Lambert W function, one can express the optimal solutions to the parametric tolerance optimization problem in a closed-form without resorting to numerical methods. For verification purposes, numerical examples for three cases are conducted and sensitivity analyses are performed.     

基于小波分析的多期择时能力模型及实证研究

本文利用小波变换对基金收益率及其方差进行多尺度分解,并将小波分析引入资本资产定价模型,计算小波多尺度β。进一步地将小波分析引入到传统的H-M模型中,利用小波函数的多尺度与不同的投资期限对应,对模型进行多期改造,从而获得择时能力的多期评价模型。以我国经济背景为依托,选择14只开放式基金进行实证研究,结果表明,利用小波分析可以有效的对基金的择时能力进行多期评价。     

关于两总体均值差的一种半参数假设检验方法

近年来, 已有一些在半参数密度函数比模型下建立半参数统计分析方法的报道, 这些方法往往比参数方法稳健, 比非参数方法有效. 在本文里, 我们提出一种半参数的假设检验方法用于对两总体均值差进行假设检验. 该方法主要建立在对两总体均值差进行半参数估计的基础上. 我们报告了一些理论和统计模拟的结果, 得出该方法在数据符合正态性假设时, 比常用的参数和非参数方法略好; 而在数据不符合正态性假设时, 它的优势就非常明显. 我们还将提出的方法用到了两组真实数据的分析上.     

基于模糊收益率的养老保险基金投资研究

结合中国养老保险基金投资现状,考虑预期收益率是模糊数的情形,利用可能性均值和可能性方差作为投资组合的预期收益率和风险,建立均值-方差组合投资模型.最后,利用lingo软件进行数值分析,表明此模型具有一定的实际应用价值.     

基于预防维修和质量损失函数的VSI EWMA控制图经济设计

为了提高过程监控效率的同时降低过程控制成本,研究可变抽样区间(VSI)指数加权移动平均(EWMA)控制图的经济设计问题。首先建立基于预防维修和质量损失函数的VSI EWMA控制图联合经济模型;使单位时间的损失成本函数最小来确定参数的最优值;其次用遗传算法来寻找联合经济模型的最优解,并给出一个算例。最后对VSI EWMA控制图联合经济模型进行灵敏度分析,得出控制图模型参数对设计参数的影响关系。     

Some modifications of improved estimators of a normal variance

Consider the problem of estimating a normal variance based on a random sample when the mean is unknown. Scale equivariant estimators which improve upon the best scale and translation equivariant one have been proposed by several authors for various loss functions including quadratic loss. However, at least for quadratic loss function, improvement is not much. Herein, some methods are proposed to construct improving estimators which are not scale equivariant and are expected to be considerably better when the true variance value is close to the specified one. The idea behind the methods is to modify improving equivariant shrinkage estimators, so that the resulting ones shrink little when the usual estimate is less than the specified value and shrink much more otherwise. Sufficient conditions are given for the estimators to dominate the best scale and translation equivariant rule under the quadratic loss and the entropy loss. Further, some results of a Monte Carlo experiment are reported which show the significant improvements by the proposed estimators.     

The opportunity cost of mean–variance choice under estimation risk

Mean–variance portfolio choice is often criticized as sub-optimal in the more general expected utility framework. It is argued that the expected utility framework takes into consideration higher moments ignored by mean variance analysis. A body of research suggests that mean–variance choice, though arguably sub-optimal, provides very close-to-expected utility maximizing portfolios and their expected utilities, basing its evaluation on in-sample analysis where mean–variance choice is sub-optimal by definition. In order to clarify this existing research, this study provides a framework that allows comparing in-sample and out-of-sample performance of the mean variance portfolios against expected utility maximizing portfolios. Our in-sample results confirm the results of earlier studies. On the other hand, our out-of-sample results show that the expected utility model performs worse. The out-of-sample inferiority of the expected utility model is more pronounced for preferences and constraints under which in-sample mean variance approximations are weakest. We argue that, in addition to its elegance and simplicity, the mean–variance model extracts more information from sample data because it uses the covariance matrix of returns. The expected utility model may reach its optimal solution without using information from the covariance matrix.     

Simultaneous kriging-based estimation and optimization of mean response

Robust optimization is typically based on repeated calls to a deterministic simulation program that aim at both propagating uncertainties and finding optimal design variables. Often in practice, the “simulator” is a computationally intensive software which makes the computational cost one of the principal obstacles to optimization in the presence of uncertainties. This article proposes a new efficient method for minimizing the mean of the objective function. The efficiency stems from the sampling criterion which simultaneously optimizes and propagates uncertainty in the model. Without loss of generality, simulation parameters are divided into two sets, the deterministic optimization variables and the random uncertain parameters. A kriging (Gaussian process regression) model of the simulator is built and a mean process is analytically derived from it. The proposed sampling criterion that yields both optimization and uncertain parameters is the one-step ahead minimum variance of the mean process at the maximizer of the expected improvement. The method is compared with Monte Carlo and kriging-based approaches on analytical test functions in two, four and six dimensions.     

An adjusted maximum likelihood method for solving small area estimation problems

For the well-known Fay-Herriot small area model, standard variance component estimation methods frequently produce zero estimates of the strictly positive model variance. As a consequence, an empirical best linear unbiased predictor of a small area mean, commonly used in small area estimation, could reduce to a simple regression estimator, which typically has an overshrinking problem. We propose an adjusted maximum likelihood estimator of the model variance that maximizes an adjusted likelihood defined as a product of the model variance and a standard likelihood (e.g., a profile or residual likelihood) function. The adjustment factor was suggested earlier by Carl Morris in the context of approximating a hierarchical Bayes solution where the hyperparameters, including the model variance, are assumed to follow a prior distribution. Interestingly, the proposed adjustment does not affect the mean squared error property of the model variance estimator or the corresponding empirical best linear unbiased predictors of the small area means in a higher order asymptotic sense. However, as demonstrated in our simulation study, the proposed adjustment has a considerable advantage in small sample inference, especially in estimating the shrinkage parameters and in constructing the parametric bootstrap prediction intervals of the small area means, which require the use of a strictly positive consistent model variance estimate.     

Khmaladze transformation of integrated variance processes with applications to goodness-of-fit testing

In the common nonparametric regression model the problem of testing for a specific parametric form of the variance function is considered. Recently Dette and Hetzler [8] proposed a test statistic which is based on an empirical process of pseudo residuals. The process converges weakly to a Gaussian process with a complicated covariance kernel depending on the data generating process. In the present paper we consider a standardized version of this process and propose an application of the Khmaladze transformation to obtain asymptotically distribution-free tests for the corresponding Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Cramér-von Mises functionals. The finite-sample properties of the proposed tests are investigated by means of a simulation study.      

Model checking in errors-in-variables regression

This paper discusses a class of minimum distance tests for fitting a parametric regression model to a class of regression functions in the errors-in-variables model. These tests are based on certain minimized distances between a nonparametric regression function estimator and a deconvolution kernel estimator of the conditional expectation of the parametric model being fitted. The paper establishes the asymptotic normality of the proposed test statistics under the null hypothesis and that of the corresponding minimum distance estimators. We also prove the consistency of the proposed tests against a fixed alternative and obtain the asymptotic distributions for general local alternatives. Simulation studies show that the testing procedures are quite satisfactory in the preservation of the finite sample level and in terms of a power comparison.     

Statistical inference in partially-varying-coefficient single-index model

Consider a varying-coefficient single-index model which consists of two parts: the linear part with varying coefficients and the nonlinear part with a single-index structure, and are hence termed as varying-coefficient single-index models. This model includes many important regression models such as single-index models, partially linear single-index models, varying-coefficient model and varying-coefficient partially linear models as special examples. In this paper, we mainly study estimating problems of the varying-coefficient vector, the nonparametric link function and the unknown parametric vector describing the single-index in the model. A stepwise approach is developed to obtain asymptotic normality estimators of the varying-coefficient vector and the parametric vector, and estimators of the nonparametric link function with a convergence rate. The consistent estimator of the structural error variance is also obtained. In addition, asymptotic pointwise confidence intervals and confidence regions are constructed for the varying coefficients and the parametric vector. The bandwidth selection problem is also considered. A simulation study is conducted to evaluate the proposed methods, and real data analysis is also used to illustrate our methods.     

Joint economic design of EWMA control charts for mean and variance

Control charts with exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) statistics (mean and variance) are used to jointly monitor the mean and variance of a process. An EWMA cost minimization model is presented to design the joint control scheme based on pure economic or both economic and statistical performance criteria. The pure economic model is extended to the economic-statistical design by adding constraints associated with in-control and out-of-control average run lengths. The quality related production costs are calculated using Taguchi’s quadratic loss function. The optimal values of smoothing constants, sampling interval, sample size, and control chart limits are determined by using a numerical search method. The average run length of the control scheme is computed by using the Markov chain approach. Computational study indicates that optimal sample sizes decrease as the magnitudes of shifts in mean and/or variance increase, and higher values of quality loss coefficient lead to shorter sampling intervals. The sensitivity analysis results regarding the effects of various inputs on the chart parameters provide useful guidelines for designing an EWMA-based process control scheme when there exists an assignable cause generating concurrent changes in process mean and variance.     

Maximum likelihood estimation from fuzzy data using the EM algorithm

A method is proposed for estimating the parameters in a parametric statistical model when the observations are fuzzy and are assumed to be related to underlying crisp realizations of a random sample. This method is based on maximizing the observed-data likelihood defined as the probability of the fuzzy data. It is shown that the EM algorithm may be used for that purpose, which makes it possible to solve a wide range of statistical problems involving fuzzy data. This approach, called the fuzzy EM (FEM) method, is illustrated using three classical problems: normal mean and variance estimation from a fuzzy sample, multiple linear regression with crisp inputs and fuzzy outputs, and univariate finite normal mixture estimation from fuzzy data.     

Dynamical stability of a viscoelastic bar

In the paper the dynamic stability of a simply supported viscoelastic bar of the Zener material model is investigated. The bar is subjected to a parametric excitation of a periodic nature. The physical model of the system is of the continuous type. However, the proposed approach yields a transformation of the mathematical model from the partial differential equation to an ordinary one. Such a transformation is made possible by the use of an approximation function for the bending line of the bar. This way, the system is governed by a homogeneous, ordinary differential equation of the third order with periodic coefficients. For stability studies the Floquet theory is applied. A sensitivity analysis of a parametric periodic system is discussed, i.e. the influence of stiffness and damping coefficient of the Zener model on stability of the differential equation that describes the vibration of the viscoelastic bar. Furthermore the stabilization process of an unstable parametric system was realized. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Note on an extension of “Davidon” methods to nondifferentiable functions

Some properties of “Davidon”, or variable metric, methods are studied from the viewpoint of convex analysis; they depend on the convexity of the function to be minimized rather than on its being approximately quadratic. An algorithm is presented which generalizes the variable metric method, and its convergence is shown for a large class of convex functions.