Completeness and unbiased estimation of mean vector in the multivariate group sequential case

We consider estimation after a group sequential test about a multivariate normal mean, such as a χ² test or a sequential version of the Bonferroni procedure. We derive the density function of the sufficient statistics and show that the sample mean remains to be the maximum likelihood estimator but is no longer unbiased. We propose an alternative Rao-Blackwell type unbiased estimator. We show that the family of distributions of the sufficient statistic is not complete, and there exist infinitely many unbiased estimators of the mean vector and none has uniformly minimum variance. However, when restricted to truncation-adaptable statistics, completeness holds and the Rao-Blackwell estimator has uniformly minimum variance.     

The Fréchet distance between multivariate normal distributions

The Fréchet distance between two multivariate normal distributions having means μ_X, μ_Y and covariance matrices Σ_X, Σ_Y is shown to be given by $\text{d}{}^2\text{= |μ}{}_{\mathrm{X}}\text{? μ}{}_{\mathrm{Y}}\text{|}{}^2\text{+}\text{tr}\text{(Σ}{}_{\mathrm{X}}\text{+ Σ}{}_{\mathrm{Y}}\text{? 2(Σ}{}_{\mathrm{X}}\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{Y}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$. The quantity d₀ given by $\text{d}{}_0{}^2\text{=}\text{tr}\text{(Σ}{}_{\mathrm{X}}\text{+ Σ}{}_{\mathrm{Y}}\text{? 2(Σ}{}_{\mathrm{X}}\text{Σ}{}_{\mathrm{Y}}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}\text{)}$ is a natural metric on the space of real covariance matrices of given order.     

A characterization of the multivariate normal distribution

Let X_j (j = 1,…,n) be i.i.d. random variables, and let Y′ = (Y₁,…,Y_m) and X′ = (X₁,…,X_n) be independently distributed, and A = (a_jk) be an n × n random coefficient matrix with a_jk = a_jk(Y) for j, k = 1,…,n. Consider the equation U = AX, Kingman and Graybill [Ann. Math. Statist.41 (1970)] have shown U ～ N(O,I) if and only if X ～ N(O,I). provided that certain conditions defined in terms of the a_jk are satisfied. The task of this paper is to delete the identical assumption on X₁,…,X_n and then generalize the results to the vector case. Furthermore, the condition of independence on the random components within each vector is relaxed, and also the question raised by the above authors is answered.     

A multivariate correlation ratio

A multivariate correlation ratio of a random vector $\text{Y}$ upon a random vector $\text{X}$ is defined by

$\text{η}{}_{\mathrm{\delta }}\text{(Y;X)={}\text{tr}\text{(δ}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1\; </mtext><mtext>Cov</mtext><mtext>E(Y|X))\}</mtext>}}\text{1}\text{2}\text{{}\text{tr}\text{(δ}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}\text{∑}{}_{\mathrm{Y}}\text{)}}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$

where Λ, a fixed positive definite matrix, is related to the relative importance of predictability for the entries of $\text{Y}$. The properties of η_Λ are discussed, with particular attention paid to a ‘correlation-maximizing’ property. Given are applications of η_Λ to the elliptically symmetric family of distributions and the multinomial distribution. Also discussed is the problem of finding those r linear functions of $\text{Y}$ that are most predictable (in a correlation ratio sense) from $\text{X}$.     

Characterizations of multivariate life distributions

Characterizations of multivariate distributions has been a topic of great interest in applied statistics literature for the last three decades. In this paper, we develop characterizations of multivariate lifetime distributions by relationship between multivariate failure rates (reversed failure rates) and the left (right) truncated expectations of functions of random variables. We, then, discuss the application of the results to derive a multivariate Stein type identity.     

Characterization of infinitely divisible multivariate gamma distributions

A particular class of p-dimensional exponential distributions have Laplace transforms |I + VT|^?1, V positive definite or positive semi-definite and T = diagonal (t₁,…, t_p). A characterization is given of when these Laplace transforms are infinitely divisible.     

The use of the tetrachoric series for evaluating multivariate normal probabilities

The tetrachoric series is a technique for evaluating multivariate normal probabilities frequently cited in the statistical literature. In this paper we have examined the convergence properties of the tetrachoric series and have established the following. For orthant probabilities, the tetrachoric series converges if $\text{|;?}{}_{\mathrm{ij}}\text{|; <}\text{1}\text{(k ? 1)}$, 1 ≤ i < j ≤ k, where ?_ij are the correlation coefficients of a k-variate normal distribution. The tetrachoric series for orthant probabilities diverges whenever k is even and $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{ij}}\text{>}\text{1}\text{(k ? 1)}$ or k is odd and $\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{ij}}\text{>}\text{1}\text{(k ? 2)}$, 1 ≤ i < j ≤ k. Other specific results concerning the convergence or divergence of this series are also given. The principal point is that the assertion that the tetrachoric series converges for all k ≥ 2 and all ?_ij such that the correlation matrix is positive definite is false.     

A test of location for exchangeable multivariate normal data with unknown correlation

We consider the problem of testing whether the common mean of a single n-vector of multivariate normal random variables with known variance and unknown common correlation ρ is zero. We derive the standardized likelihood ratio test for known ρ and explore different ways of proceeding with ρ unknown. We evaluate the performance of the standardized statistic where ρ is replaced with an estimate of ρ and determine the critical value c_n that controls the type I error rate for the least favorable ρ in [0,1]. The constant c_n increases with n and this procedure has pathological behavior if ρ depends on n and ρ_n converges to zero at a certain rate. As an alternate approach, we replace ρ with the upper limit of a (1−β_n) confidence interval chosen so that c_n=c for all n. We determine β_n so that the type I error rate is exactly controlled for all ρ in [0,1]. We also investigate a simpler approach where we bound the type I error rate. The former method performs well for all n while the less powerful bound method may be a useful in some settings as a simple approach. The proposed tests can be used in different applications, including within-cluster resampling and combining exchangeable p-values.     

A family of estimators for multivariate kurtosis in a nonnormal linear regression model

In this paper, we propose a new estimator for a kurtosis in a multivariate nonnormal linear regression model. Usually, an estimator is constructed from an arithmetic mean of the second power of the squared sample Mahalanobis distances between observations and their estimated values. The estimator gives an underestimation and has a large bias, even if the sample size is not small. We replace this squared distance with a transformed squared norm of the Studentized residual using a monotonic increasing function. Our proposed estimator is defined by an arithmetic mean of the second power of these squared transformed squared norms with a correction term and a tuning parameter. The correction term adjusts our estimator to an unbiased estimator under normality, and the tuning parameter controls the sizes of the squared norms of the residuals. The family of our estimators includes estimators based on ordinary least squares and predicted residuals. We verify that the bias of our new estimator is smaller than usual by constructing numerical experiments.     

A class of multivariate symmetric stable distributions

Multivariate symmetric stable characteristic functions and their properties, as well as conditions for independence and an analogue of the correlation coefficient in bivariate symmetric stable distributions, are discussed.     

A characterization of the multivariate normal distribution by using the hazard gradient

We give a general result to characterize a multivariate distribution from a relationship between the left truncated mean function and the hazard gradient function. This result allows us to obtain new characterizations of multivariate distributions. In particular, we show that, for the multivariate normal distribution, the simple relationship, obtained in standardized form by McGill (1992,Communications in Statistics. Theory Methods,21(11), 3053–3060), actually characterizes the multivariate normal distribution. Supported by Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia under grant BFM2000-0362.     

Restricted estimation in multivariate measurement error regression model

We study a multivariate ultrastructural measurement error (MUME) model with more than one response variable. This model is a synthesis of multivariate functional and structural models. Three consistent estimators of regression coefficients, satisfying the exact linear restrictions have been proposed. Their asymptotic distributions are derived under the assumption of a non-normal measurement error and random error components. A simulation study is carried out to investigate the small sample properties of the estimators. The effect of departure from normality of the measurement errors on the estimators is assessed.     

Orthant tail dependence of multivariate extreme value distributions

The orthant tail dependence describes the relative deviation of upper- (or lower-) orthant tail probabilities of a random vector from similar orthant tail probabilities of a subset of its components, and can be used in the study of dependence among extreme values. Using the conditional approach, this paper examines the extremal dependence properties of multivariate extreme value distributions and their scale mixtures, and derives the explicit expressions of orthant tail dependence parameters for these distributions. Properties of the tail dependence parameters, including their relations with other extremal dependence measures used in the literature, are discussed. Various examples involving multivariate exponential, multivariate logistic distributions and copulas of Archimedean type are presented to illustrate the results.     

A contribution to multivariate L-moments: L-comoment matrices

Multivariate statistical analysis relies heavily on moment assumptions of second order and higher. With increasing interest in heavy-tailed distributions, however, it is desirable to describe dispersion, skewness, and kurtosis under merely first order moment assumptions. Here, the univariate L-moments of Hosking [L-moments: analysis and estimation of distributions using linear combinations of order statistics, J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B 52 (1990) 105-124] are extended to “L-comoments” analogous to covariance. For certain models, the second order case yields correlational analysis coherent with classical correlation but also meaningful under just first moment assumptions. We develop properties and estimators for L-comoments, illustrate for several multivariate models, examine behavior of sample multivariate L-moments with heavy-tailed data, and discuss applications to financial risk analysis and regional frequency analysis.     

On the singularity of multivariate skew-symmetric models

In recent years, the skew-normal models introduced by Azzalini (1985) [1]-and their multivariate generalizations from Azzalini and Dalla Valle (1996) [4]-have enjoyed an amazing success, although an important literature has reported that they exhibit, in the vicinity of symmetry, singular Fisher information matrices and stationary points in the profile log-likelihood function for skewness, with the usual unpleasant consequences for inference. It has been shown (DiCiccio and Monti (2004) [23], DiCiccio and Monti (2009) [24] and Gómez et al. (2007) [25]) that these singularities, in some specific parametric extensions of skew-normal models (such as the classes of skew-t or skew-exponential power distributions), appear at skew-normal distributions only. Yet, an important question remains open: in broader semiparametric models of skewed distributions (such as the general skew-symmetric and skew-elliptical ones), which symmetric kernels lead to such singularities? The present paper provides an answer to this question. In very general (possibly multivariate) skew-symmetric models, we characterize, for each possible value of the rank of Fisher information matrices, the class of symmetric kernels achieving the corresponding rank. Our results show that, for strictly multivariate skew-symmetric models, not only Gaussian kernels yield singular Fisher information matrices. In contrast, we prove that systematic stationary points in the profile log-likelihood functions are obtained for (multi)normal kernels only. Finally, we also discuss the implications of such singularities on inference.     

A note on bias due to fitting prospective multivariate generalized linear models to categorical outcomes ignoring retrospective sampling schemes

Outcome-dependent sampling designs are commonly used in economics, market research and epidemiological studies. Case-control sampling design is a classic example of outcome-dependent sampling, where exposure information is collected on subjects conditional on their disease status. In many situations, the outcome under consideration may have multiple categories instead of a simple dichotomization. For example, in a case-control study, there may be disease sub-classification among the “cases” based on progression of the disease, or in terms of other histological and morphological characteristics of the disease. In this note, we investigate the issue of fitting prospective multivariate generalized linear models to such multiple-category outcome data, ignoring the retrospective nature of the sampling design. We first provide a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the link functions that will allow for equivalence of prospective and retrospective inference for the parameters of interest. We show that for categorical outcomes, prospective-retrospective equivalence does not hold beyond the generalized multinomial logit link. We then derive an approximate expression for the bias incurred when link functions outside this class are used. Most popular models for ordinal response fall outside the multiplicative intercept class and one should be cautious while performing a naive prospective analysis of such data as the bias could be substantial. We illustrate the extent of bias through a real data example, based on the ongoing Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) cancer screening trial by the National Cancer Institute. The simulations based on the real study illustrate that the bias approximations work well in practice.     

High dimensional data analysis using multivariate generalized spatial quantiles

High dimensional data routinely arises in image analysis, genetic experiments, network analysis, and various other research areas. Many such datasets do not correspond to well-studied probability distributions, and in several applications the data-cloud prominently displays non-symmetric and non-convex shape features. We propose using spatial quantiles and their generalizations, in particular, the projection quantile, for describing, analyzing and conducting inference with multivariate data. Minimal assumptions are made about the nature and shape characteristics of the underlying probability distribution, and we do not require the sample size to be as high as the data-dimension. We present theoretical properties of the generalized spatial quantiles, and an algorithm to compute them quickly. Our quantiles may be used to obtain multidimensional confidence or credible regions that are not required to conform to a pre-determined shape. We also propose a new notion of multidimensional order statistics, which may be used to obtain multidimensional outliers. Many of the features revealed using a generalized spatial quantile-based analysis would be missed if the data was shoehorned into a well-known probabilistic configuration.     

Predictivistic characterizations of multivariate student-t models

De Finetti style theorems characterize models (predictive distributions) as mixtures of the likelihood function and the prior distribution, beginning from some judgment of invariance about observable quantities. The likelihood function generally has its functional form identified from invariance assumptions only. However, we need additional conditions on observable quantities (typically, assumptions on conditional expectations) to identify the prior distribution. In this paper, we consider some well-known invariance assumptions and establish additional conditions on observable quantities in order to obtain a predictivistic characterization of the multivariate and matrix-variate Student-t distributions as well as for the Student-t linear model. As a byproduct, a characterization for the Pearson type II distribution is provided.     

Tail dependence for multivariate t -copulas and its monotonicity

The tail dependence indexes of a multivariate distribution describe the amount of dependence in the upper right tail or lower left tail of the distribution and can be used to analyse the dependence among extremal random events. This paper examines the tail dependence of multivariate t-distributions whose copulas are not explicitly accessible. The tractable formulas of tail dependence indexes of a multivariate t-distribution are derived in terms of the joint moments of its underlying multivariate normal distribution, and the monotonicity properties of these indexes with respect to the distribution parameters are established. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the results.