M-Methods in multivariate linear models

For the multivariate linear model, coordinatewise M-estimators as well as an extension of the Maronna-type M-estimators are considered. Based on the Jure?ková (asymptotic) linearity of M-statistics, the asymptotic distribution theory of the proposed estimators is studied under appropriate regularity conditions, and incorporated in the formulation of some (asymptotic) M-tests of linear hypotheses. Finally, robustness properties of both types of estimators are discussed.     

Local asymptotic normality in a stationary model for spatial extremes

De Haan and Pereira (2006) [6] provided models for spatial extremes in the case of stationarity, which depend on just one parameter β>0 measuring tail dependence, and they proposed different estimators for this parameter. We supplement this framework by establishing local asymptotic normality (LAN) of a corresponding point process of exceedances above a high multivariate threshold. Standard arguments from LAN theory then provide the asymptotic minimum variance within the class of regular estimators of β. It turns out that the relative frequency of exceedances is a regular estimator sequence with asymptotic minimum variance, if the underlying observations follow a multivariate extreme value distribution or a multivariate generalized Pareto distribution.     

Asymptotic distributions of robust shape matrices and scales

It has been frequently observed in the literature that many multivariate statistical methods require the covariance or dispersion matrix Σ of an elliptical distribution only up to some scaling constant. If the topic of interest is not the scale but only the shape of the elliptical distribution, it is not meaningful to focus on the asymptotic distribution of an estimator for Σ or another matrix Γ∝Σ. In the present work, robust estimators for the shape matrix and the associated scale are investigated. Explicit expressions for their joint asymptotic distributions are derived. It turns out that if the joint asymptotic distribution is normal, the estimators presented are asymptotically independent for one and only one specific choice of the scale function. If it is non-normal (this holds for example if the estimators for the shape matrix and scale are based on the minimum volume ellipsoid estimator) only the scale function presented leads to asymptotically uncorrelated estimators. This is a generalization of a result obtained by Paindaveine [D. Paindaveine, A canonical definition of shape, Statistics and Probability Letters 78 (2008) 2240-2247] in the context of local asymptotic normality theory.     

Nonparametric methods for unbalanced multivariate data and many factor levels

We propose different nonparametric tests for multivariate data and derive their asymptotic distribution for unbalanced designs in which the number of factor levels tends to infinity (large a, small n_i case). Quasi gratis, some new parametric multivariate tests suitable for the large a asymptotic case are also obtained. Finite sample performances are investigated and compared in a simulation study. The nonparametric tests are based on separate rankings for the different variables. In the presence of outliers, the proposed nonparametric methods have better power than their parametric counterparts. Application of the new tests is demonstrated using data from plant pathology.     

Second-order optimality of randomized estimation and test procedures

Let P_{(Θ, τ)} 6 $\text{A}$, θ ∈ Θ ? $\text{R}$, τ ∈ T ? $\text{R}$^p denote a family of probability measures, where τ denotes the vector of nuisance parameters. Starting from randomized asymptotic maximum likelihood (as. m. l.) estimators for (θ, τ) we construct randomized estimators which are asymptotically median unbiased up to $\text{o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$ resp. test procedures which are as. similar of level $\text{α + o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$ (for testing θ = θ₀, τ ∈ T against one sided alternatives). The estimation procedures are second-order efficient in the class of estimators which are median unbiased up to $\text{o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$ and the test procedures are second-order efficient in the class of tests which are as. of level $\text{α + o(n}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$. These results hold without any continuity condition on the family of probability measures.     

Superefficient estimation of the marginals by exploiting knowledge on the copula

We consider the problem of estimating the marginals in the case where there is knowledge on the copula. If the copula is smooth, it is known that it is possible to improve on the empirical distribution functions: optimal estimators still have a rate of convergence n^−1/2, but a smaller asymptotic variance. In this paper we show that for non-smooth copulas it is sometimes possible to construct superefficient estimators of the marginals: we construct both a copula and, exploiting the information our copula provides, estimators of the marginals with the rate of convergence logn/n.     

Moment convergence of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis>-estimators

The problem to establish the asymptotic distribution of statistical estimators as well as the moment convergence of such estimators has been recognized as an important issue in advanced theories of statistics. This problem has been deeply studied for M-estimators for a wide range of models by many authors. The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative and apparently simple theory to derive the moment convergence of Z-estimators. In the proposed approach the cases of parameters with different rate of convergence can be treated easily and smoothly and any large deviation type inequalities necessary for the same result for M-estimators do not appear in this approach. Applications to the model of i.i.d. observation, Cox’s regression model as well as some diffusion process are discussed.     

Optimal rates of convergence in the Weibull model based on kernel-type estimators

Let F be a distribution function in the maximal domain of attraction of the Gumbel distribution such that −log(1−F(x))=x^1/θL(x) for a positive real number θ, called the Weibull tail index, and a slowly varying function L. It is well known that the estimators of θ have a very slow rate of convergence. We establish here a sharp optimality result in the minimax sense, that is when L is treated as an infinite dimensional nuisance parameter belonging to some functional class. We also establish the rate optimal asymptotic property of a data-driven choice of the sample fraction that is used for estimation.     

Smooth estimation of survival and density functions for a stationary associated process using Poisson weights

Let {X_n,n≥1} be a sequence of stationary non-negative associated random variables with common marginal density f(x). Here we use the empirical survival function as studied in Bagai and Prakasa Rao (1991) and apply the smoothing technique proposed by Gawronski (1980) (see also Chaubey and Sen, 1996) in proposing a smooth estimator of the density function f and that of the corresponding survival function. Some asymptotic properties of the resulting estimators, similar to those obtained in Chaubey and Sen (1996) for the i.i.d. case, are derived. A simulation study has been carried out to compare the new estimator to the kernel estimator of a density function given in Bagai and Prakasa Rao (1996) and the estimator in Buch-Larsen et al. (2005).     

Robustness Comparisons of Some Classes of Location Parameter Estimators

Asymptotic biases and variances of M-, L- and R-estimators of a location parameter are compared under ε-contamination of the known error distribution F ₀ by an unknown (and possibly asymmetric) distribution. For each ε-contamination neighborhood of F ₀, the corresponding M-, L- and R-estimators which are asymptotically efficient at the least informative distribution are compared under asymmetric ε-contamination. Three scale-invariant versions of the M-estimator are studied: (i) one using the interquartile range as a preliminary estimator of scale: (ii) another using the median absolute deviation as a preliminary estimator of scale; and (iii) simultaneous M-estimation of location and scale by Huber's Proposal 2. A question considered for each case is: when are the maximal asymptotic biases and variances under asymmetric ε-contamination attained by unit point mass contamination at ∞? Numerical results for the case of the ε-contaminated normal distribution show that the L-estimators have generally better performance (for small to moderate values of ε) than all three of the scale-invariant M-estimators studied.     

Accurate distribution and its asymptotic expansion for the tetrachoric correlation coefficient

Accurate distributions of the estimator of the tetrachoric correlation coefficient and, more generally, functions of sample proportions for the 2 by 2 contingency table are derived. The results are obtained given the definitions of the estimators even when some marginal cell(s) are empty. Then, asymptotic expansions of the distributions of the parameter estimators standardized by the population asymptotic standard errors up to order O(1/n) and those of the studentized ones up to the order next beyond the conventional normal approximation are derived. The asymptotic results can be obtained in a much shorter computation time than the accurate ones. Numerical examples were used to illustrate advantages of the studentized estimator of Fisher’s z transformation of the tetrachoric correlation coefficient.     

Asymptotic distributions of the latent roots of the covariance matrix with multiple population roots

An asymptotic expansion for large sample size n is derived by a partial differential equation method, up to and including the term of order n^?2, for the ₀F₀ function with two argument matrices which arise in the joint density function of the latent roots of the covariance matrix, when some of the population latent roots are multiple. Then we derive asymptotic expansions for the joint and marginal distributions of the sample roots in the case of one multiple root.     

Asymptotic normality of H-L estimators based on dependent data

LetX ₁,X ₂, ... be a strictly stationary φ-mixing sequence of r.v.'s with a common continuous cdfF. Let θ be a location parameter ofF. We prove the asymptotic normality of a class of Hodges-Lehmann estimators of θ under various regularity conditions on the mixing number φ and the underlyingF. We also establish the asymptotic linearity of signed rank statistics in the parameter θ. Our results also enable us to study the effect of φ-dependence on the asymptotic power of signed rank tests for testingH ₀: θ=0 againstH _n :θ=θ ₀ n ^?1/2,θ ₀≠0. Finally these results are shown to remain valid for strongly mixing processes {X _i } also.     

Nonparametric estimation of mixed partial derivatives of a multivariate density

On the basis of a random sample of size n on an m-dimensional random vector X, this note proposes a class of estimators f_n^(p) of f^(p), where f is a density of X w.r.t. a σ-finite measure dominated by the Lebesgue measure on R^m, p = (p₁,…,p_m), p_j ≥ 0, fixed integers, and for x = (x₁,…,x_m) in R^m, f^(p)(x) = ?^p₁+…+p_m f(x)/(?^p₁x₁ … ?^p_mx_m). Asymptotic unbiasedness as well as both almost sure and mean square consistencies of f_n^(p) are examined. Further, a necessary and sufficient condition for uniform asymptotic unbisedness or for uniform mean square consistency of f_n^(p) is given. Finally, applications of estimators of this note to certain statistical problems are pointed out.     

Semi-parametric estimation of partially linear single-index models

One of the most difficult problems in applications of semi-parametric partially linear single-index models (PLSIM) is the choice of pilot estimators and complexity parameters which may result in radically different estimators. Pilot estimators are often assumed to be root-n consistent, although they are not given in a constructible way. Complexity parameters, such as a smoothing bandwidth are constrained to a certain speed, which is rarely determinable in practical situations.In this paper, efficient, constructible and practicable estimators of PLSIMs are designed with applications to time series. The proposed technique answers two questions from Carroll et al. [Generalized partially linear single-index models, J. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 92 (1997) 477-489]: no root-n pilot estimator for the single-index part of the model is needed and complexity parameters can be selected at the optimal smoothing rate. The asymptotic distribution is derived and the corresponding algorithm is easily implemented. Examples from real data sets (credit-scoring and environmental statistics) illustrate the technique and the proposed methodology of minimum average variance estimation (MAVE).     

Dual divergence estimators and tests: Robustness results

The class of dual ?-divergence estimators (introduced in Broniatowski and Keziou (2009) [5]) is explored with respect to robustness through the influence function approach. For scale and location models, this class is investigated in terms of robustness and asymptotic relative efficiency. Some hypothesis tests based on dual divergence criteria are proposed and their robustness properties are studied. The empirical performances of these estimators and tests are illustrated by Monte Carlo simulation for both non-contaminated and contaminated data.     

A central limit theorem for measurements on the logarithmic scale and its application to dimension estimates

We show consistency and asymptotic normality of certain estimators for expected exponential growth rates under i.i.d. observations. These statistical functionals are of the form

T(F)=∫log∫h(x,y)F(dx)F(dy)     

Dirichlet polyhedra for dihedral groups acting on complex hyperbolic space

We consider groups Γ generated by inversions in a pair of asymptotic complex hyperplanes in complex hyperbolic spaceH _? ⁿ . We show that there exists a Γ-invariant real hypersurfaceF ?H _? ⁿ such that the Dirichlet fundamental polyhedron for Γ centered at z₀ has two sides (resp. infinitely many sides) if and only ifz ₀ ∈F (resp.z ₀ ?F). The Dirichlet regions are determined explicitly in terms of coordinates on Γ-invariant horospheres and the geometry ofH _? ⁿ is developed in terms of these horospherical coordinates.     

Asymptotic distribution of the OLS estimator for a mixed spatial model

We find the asymptotic distribution of the OLS estimator of the parameters β and ρ in the mixed spatial model with exogenous regressors Y_n=X_nβ+ρW_nY_n+V_n. The exogenous regressors may be bounded or growing, like polynomial trends. The assumption about the spatial matrix W_n is appropriate for the situation when each economic agent is influenced by many others. The error term is a short-memory linear process. The key finding is that in general the asymptotic distribution contains both linear and quadratic forms in standard normal variables and is not normal.