Linear plus quadratic (LPQ) quasiminimax estimation in the linear regression model

If the errors in the linear regression model are assumed to be independent with nonvanishing third and finite fourth moments, then it is possible to improve all linear estimators by so-called linear plus quadratic (LPQ) estimators. These consist of linear and quadratic terms in the endogeneous variable and depend on the unknown moments of the errors which, in general, have to be estimated from the data. In this paper, we will use LPQ estimators for quasiminimax estimation and some related problems.Support by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Grant No. Tr 253/1-2 is gratefully acknowledged.     

Minimax estimation for singular linear multivariate models with mixed uncertainty

The problem of minimax estimation is examined for the linear multivariate statistically indeterminate observation model with mixed uncertainty. The a priori information on the distributions of model parameters is formulated in terms of second-order moment characteristics. It is shown that in the regular case the minimax estimate is defined explicitly via the solution of the dual optimization problem. For singular models, the method of dual optimization is developed by means of using the Tikhonov regularization techniques. Several particular cases which are widely used in practice are also considered.     

Minimax adjustment technique in a parameter restricted linear model

We consider an approach yielding a minimax estimator in the linear regression model with a priori information on the parameter vector, e.g., ellipsoidal restrictions. This estimator is computed directly from the loss function and can be motivated by the general Pitman nearness criterion. It turns out that this approach coincides with the projection estimator which is obtained by projecting an initial arbitrary estimate on the subset defined by the restrictions.     

Limit distributions of least squares estimators in linear regression models with vague concepts

Linear regression models with vague concepts extend the classical single equation linear regression models by admitting observations in form of fuzzy subsets instead of real numbers. They have lately been introduced (cf. [V. Krätschmer, Induktive Statistik auf Basis unscharfer Meßkonzepte am Beispiel linearer Regressionsmodelle, unpublished postdoctoral thesis, Faculty of Law and Economics of the University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, 2001; V. Krätschmer, Least squares estimation in linear regression models with vague concepts, Fuzzy Sets and Systems, accepted for publication]) to improve the empirical meaningfulness of the relationships between the involved items by a more sensitive attention to the problems of data measurement, in particular, the fundamental problem of adequacy. The parameters of such models are still real numbers, and a method of estimation can be applied which extends directly the ordinary least squares method. In another recent contribution (cf. [V. Krätschmer, Strong consistency of least squares estimation in linear regression models with vague concepts, J. Multivar. Anal., accepted for publication]) strong consistency and -consistency of this generalized least squares estimation have been shown. The aim of the paper is to complete these results by an investigation of the limit distributions of the estimators. It turns out that the classical results can be transferred, in some cases even asymptotic normality holds.     

Iteratively reweighted least squares: A comparison of several single step algorithms for linear models

Various algorithms for the computation of linear M-estimates for convex as well as for nonconvex criterion functions are considered. In the convex case a scaling parameters is estimated together with the parameter vectorx as a solution of some nonlinear minimization problem. Several single step algorithms for the solution of this minimization problem are investigated. On the base of known procedures new methods are developed, which use locally majorizing approximations of the objective function, exact line search and efficient updating techniques. These algorithms also turn out to be efficient for the computation of M-estimates which are defined by nonconvex criterion functions and a constant scaling parameter. The numerical efficiency of the different procedures is compared by means of 30 simulated test problems.Part of this work was performed while the author was in residence at the Institut für Angewandte Mathematik, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstr. 55, D(West)-2000 Hamburg 13, Germany.     

Estimation in partially linear models with missing responses at random

A partially linear model is considered when the responses are missing at random. Imputation, semiparametric regression surrogate and inverse marginal probability weighted approaches are developed to estimate the regression coefficients and the nonparametric function, respectively. All the proposed estimators for the regression coefficients are shown to be asymptotically normal, and the estimators for the nonparametric function are proved to converge at an optimal rate. A simulation study is conducted to compare the finite sample behavior of the proposed estimators.     

A comparison of minimax and least squares estimators in linear regression with polyhedral prior information

We consider the linear regression model where prior information in the form of linear inequalities restricts the parameter space to a polyhedron. Since the linear minimax estimator has, in general, to be determined numerically, it was proposed to minimize an upper bound of the maximum risk instead. The resulting so-called quasiminimax estimator can be easily calculated in closed form. Unfortunately, both minimax estimators may violate the prior information. Therefore, we consider projection estimators which are obtained by projecting the estimate in an optional second step. The performance of these estimators is investigated in a Monte Carlo study together with several least squares estimators, including the inequality restricted least squares estimator. It turns out that both the projected and the unprojected quasiminimax estimators have the best average performance.     

Linear mixed models and penalized least squares

Linear mixed-effects models are an important class of statistical models that are used directly in many fields of applications and also are used as iterative steps in fitting other types of mixed-effects models, such as generalized linear mixed models. The parameters in these models are typically estimated by maximum likelihood or restricted maximum likelihood. In general, there is no closed-form solution for these estimates and they must be determined by iterative algorithms such as EM iterations or general nonlinear optimization. Many of the intermediate calculations for such iterations have been expressed as generalized least squares problems. We show that an alternative representation as a penalized least squares problem has many advantageous computational properties including the ability to evaluate explicitly a profiled log-likelihood or log-restricted likelihood, the gradient and Hessian of this profiled objective, and an ECME update to refine this objective.     

Minimax estimation with random coefficients: Theory and application to stock returns

Testing the reliability of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) for various stock market returns is an important task in capital market research. In all previous studies, a common feature consists in the application of ordinary least squares or Bayesian methods when it comes to estimation of parameters. The Bayesian approach seems to be fairly intractable by practitioners whereas the OLS approach often yields imprecise and thus doubtful results. In this paper, the CAPM is estimated by approximate minimax techniques extended to a random coefficient regression model (RCR). The method turns out to be efficient from both the economical and computational point of view.     

Theory and inference for regression models with missing responses and covariates

In this paper, we carry out an in-depth theoretical investigation for inference with missing response and covariate data for general regression models. We assume that the missing data are missing at random (MAR) or missing completely at random (MCAR) throughout. Previous theoretical investigations in the literature have focused only on missing covariates or missing responses, but not both. Here, we consider theoretical properties of the estimates under three different estimation settings: complete case (CC) analysis, a complete response (CR) analysis that involves an analysis of those subjects with only completely observed responses, and the all case (AC) analysis, which is an analysis based on all of the cases. Under each scenario, we derive general expressions for the likelihood and devise estimation schemes based on the EM algorithm. We carry out a theoretical investigation of the three estimation methods in the normal linear model and analytically characterize the loss of information for each method, as well as derive and compare the asymptotic variances for each method assuming the missing data are MAR or MCAR. In addition, a theoretical investigation of bias for the CC method is also carried out. A simulation study and real dataset are given to illustrate the methodology.     

Nonlinear weighted least squares estimation of a three-parameter Weibull density with a nonparametric start

This paper is concerned with the parameter estimation problem for the three-parameter Weibull density which is widely employed as a model in reliability and lifetime studies. Our approach is a combination of nonparametric and parametric methods. The basic idea is to start with an initial nonparametric density estimate which needs to be as good as possible, and then apply the nonlinear least squares method to estimate the unknown parameters. As a main result, a theorem on the existence of the least squares estimate is obtained. Some simulations are given to show that our approach is satisfactory if the initial density is of good enough quality.     

Spectral methods in linear minimax estimation

We consider the minimax-linear estimator in a linear regression model with circular constraints. Two necessary and sufficient conditions for the optimality of an estimator, the socalled left spectral equation and the right spectral equation (Girko spectral equation), are derived. For the special case of a simple maximal eigenvalue and a single eigenspace explicit estimation formulas are derived. These formulas also show some of the shortcomings of the minimax-linear estimator (MILE). Finally, the relation with Bayesian analysis and the Hoffmann-Läuter estimator is outlined.     

Strong consistency of least-squares estimation in linear regression models with vague concepts

Linear regression models with vague concepts extend the classical single equation linear regression models by admitting observations in form of fuzzy subsets instead of real numbers. They have recently been introduced [cf. Krätschmer, Induktive statistik auf basis unscharfer meßkonzepte am beispiel linearer regressionsmodelle, Unpublished Habilitation Monograph, Faculty of Law and Economics of the University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, 2001] to improve the empirical meaningfulness of the relationship between the involved items by a more sensitive attention to the problems of data measurement, in particular the fundamental problem of adequacy. The parameters of such models are still real numbers, and a method of estimation can be applied which extends directly the ordinary least-squares method. This paper deals with some first asymptotic properties of estimators obtained by the method. Firstly, strong consistency will be shown, and secondly, the convergence rate will be investigated. The later result will be the starting point for a future study which will calculate the limit distributions of the estimators.     

Bayes estimation in linear models: A coordinate-free approach

The unified theory of Bayes estimation in linear models is presented, using a coordinate-free approach. The results are applied to the problem of linear and quadratic estimation in linear regression model.     

Thresholding projection estimators in functional linear models

We consider the problem of estimating the regression function in functional linear regression models by proposing a new type of projection estimators which combine dimension reduction and thresholding. The introduction of a threshold rule allows us to get consistency under broad assumptions as well as minimax rates of convergence under additional regularity hypotheses. We also consider the particular case of Sobolev spaces generated by the trigonometric basis which permits us to get easily mean squared error of prediction as well as estimators of the derivatives of the regression function. We prove that these estimators are minimax and rates of convergence are given for some particular cases.     

Nonparametric variance function estimation with missing data

In this paper, a fixed design regression model where the errors follow a strictly stationary process is considered. In this model the conditional mean function and the conditional variance function are unknown curves. Correlated errors when observations are missing in the response variable are assumed. Four nonparametric estimators of the conditional variance function based on local polynomial fitting are proposed. Expressions of the asymptotic bias and variance of these estimators are obtained. A simulation study illustrates the behavior of the proposed estimators.     

Generalized partially linear models with missing covariates

In this article we study a semiparametric generalized partially linear model when the covariates are missing at random. We propose combining local linear regression with the local quasilikelihood technique and weighted estimating equation to estimate the parameters and nonparameters when the missing probability is known or unknown. We establish normality of the estimators of the parameter and asymptotic expansion for the estimators of the nonparametric part. We apply the proposed models and methods to a study of the relation between virologic and immunologic responses in AIDS clinical trials, in which virologic response is classified into binary variables. We also give simulation results to illustrate our approach.     

Biased estimation and hypothesis testing in linear regression

We consider a test of the simple hypothesis =₀ based on some biased estimator. Under a certain condition the corresponding test statistic coincides with the usualF-statistic based on the least squares estimator. Surprisingly, this condition is met by several well-known biased estimators.     

On the equivalence of spectral theory and bayesian analysis in minimax linear estimation

The Bayesian point of view of the linear regression model is used to deal with some minimax problems. New tools for spectral theory make it possible to give an alternative equivalence of the Bayesian and the minimax approach.     

Time-varying coefficient estimation in differential equation models with noisy time-varying covariates

We study the problem of estimating time-varying coefficients in ordinary differential equations. Current theory only applies to the case when the associated state variables are observed without measurement errors as presented in Chen and Wu (2008) [4] and [5]. The difficulty arises from the quadratic functional of observations that one needs to deal with instead of the linear functional that appears when state variables contain no measurement errors. We derive the asymptotic bias and variance for the previously proposed two-step estimators using quadratic regression functional theory.