Estimation of Symmetry-Constrained Gaussian Graphical Models: Application to Clustered Dense Networks

We propose a model selection algorithm for high-dimensional clustered data. Our algorithm combines a classical penalized likelihood method with a composite likelihood approach in the framework of colored graphical Gaussian models. Our method is designed to identify high-dimensional dense networks with a large number of edges but sparse edge classes. Its empirical performance is demonstrated through simulation studies and a network analysis of a gene expression dataset.     

Improving the Graphical Lasso Estimation for the Precision Matrix Through Roots of the Sample Covariance Matrix

In this article, we focus on the estimation of a high-dimensional inverse covariance (i.e., precision) matrix. We propose a simple improvement of the graphical Lasso (glasso) framework that is able to attain better statistical performance without increasing significantly the computational cost. The proposed improvement is based on computing a root of the sample covariance matrix to reduce the spread of the associated eigenvalues. Through extensive numerical results, using both simulated and real datasets, we show that the proposed modification improves the glasso procedure. Our results reveal that the square-root improvement can be a reasonable choice in practice. Supplementary material for this article is available online.     

Likelihood-Based Analysis of Linear State-Space Models Using the Cholesky Decomposition

Data associated with the linear state-space model can be assembled as a matrix whose Cholesky decomposition leads directly to a likelihood evaluation. It is possible to build several matrices for which this is true. Although the chosen matrix or assemblage can be very large, rows and columns can usually be rearranged so that sparse matrix factorization is feasible and provides an alternative to the Kalman filter. Moreover, technology for calculating derivatives of the log-likelihood using backward differentiation is available, and hence it is possible to maximize the likelihood using the Newton–Raphson approach. Emphasis is given to the estimation of dispersion parameters by both maximum likelihood and restricted maximum likelihood, and an illustration is provided for an ARMA(1,1) model.     

Estimation of Semiparametric Models in the Presence of Endogeneity and Sample Selection

We analyze a semiparametric model for data that suffer from the problems of sample selection, where some of the data are observed for only part of the sample with a probability that depends on a selection equation, and of endogeneity, where a covariate is correlated with the disturbance term. The introduction of nonparametric functions in the model permits great flexibility in the way covariates affect response variables. We present an efficient Bayesian method for the analysis of such models that allows us to consider general systems of outcome variables and endogenous regressors that are continuous, binary, censored, or ordered. Estimation is by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. The algorithm we propose does not require simulation of the outcomes that are missing due to the selection mechanism, which reduces the computational load and improves the mixing of the MCMC chain. The approach is applied to a model of women’s labor force participation and log-wage determination. Data and computer code used in this article are available online.     

Estimating Some Characteristics of the Conditional Distribution in Nonparametric Functional Models

This paper deals with a scalar response conditioned by a functional random variable. The main goal is to estimate nonparametrically some characteristics of this conditional distribution. Kernel type estimators for the conditional cumulative distribution function and the successive derivatives of the conditional density are introduced. Asymptotic properties are stated for each of these estimates, and they are applied to the estimations of the conditional mode and conditional quantiles. Our asymptotic results highlightes the importance of the concentration properties on small balls of the probability measure of the underlying functional variable. So, a special section is devoted to show how our results behave in several situations when the functional variable is a continuous time process, with special attention to diffusion processes and Gaussian processes. Even if the main purpose of our paper is theoretical, an application to some chemiometrical data set coming from food industry is presented in a short final section. This example illustrates the easy implementation of our method as well as its good behaviour for finite sample sizes.