On sequential procedures for the point estimation of the mean of a normal population

The sequential procedures developed by Starr (1966, Ann. Math. Statist., 37, 1173–1185) for estimating the mean of a normal population are further analyzed. Asymptotic properties of the regret and first two moments of the stopping rules are studied and second-order approximations are derived.     

Local asymptotic normality of a sequential model for marked point processes and its applications

This paper deals with statistical inference problems for a special type of marked point processes based on the realization in random time intervals [0,_u]. Sufficient conditions to establish the local asymptotic normality (LAN) of the model are presented, and then, certain class of stopping times _u satisfying them is proposed. Using these stopping rules, one can treat the processes within the framework of LAN, which yields asymptotic optimalities of various inference procedures. Applications for compound Poisson processes and continuous time Markov branching processes (CMBP) are discussed. Especially, asymptotically uniformly most powerful tests for criticality of CMBP can be obtained. Such tests do not exist in the case of the non-sequential approach. Also, asymptotic normality of the sequential maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) of the Malthusian parameter of CMBP can be derived, although the non-sequential MLE is not asymptotically normal in the supercritical case.     

Nonparametric estimation of location parameter after a preliminary test on regression in the multivariate case

For a simple multivariate regression model, nonparametric estimation of the (vector of) intercept following a preliminary test on the regression vector is considered. Along with the asymptotic distribution of these estimators, their asymptotic bias and dispersion matrices are studied and allied efficiency results are presented.     

Multi-stage nonparametric estimation of density function using orthonormal systems

In this note, the authors propose a new nonparametric method of estimation of density using orthonormal systems iteratively. The asymptotic mean integrated square error of the estimate at each stage is less than or equal to that of the preceding stage. The new estimate is better, in some cases, than the traditional estimate based upon orthonormal functions from the point of view of the mean integrated square error in the limit.     

Adaptive nonparametric estimation of a multivariate regression function

We consider the kernel estimation of a multivariate regression function at a point. Theoretical choices of the bandwidth are possible for attaining minimum mean squared error or for local scaling, in the sense of asymptotic distribution. However, these choices are not available in practice. We follow the approach of Krieger and Pickands (Ann. Statist.9 (1981) 1066–1078) and Abramson (J. Multivariate Anal.12 (1982), 562–567) in constructing adaptive estimates after demonstrating the weak convergence of some error process. As consequences, efficient data-driven consistent estimation is feasible, and data-driven local scaling is also feasible. In the latter instance, nearest-neighbor-type estimates and variance-stabilizing estimates are obtained as special cases.