On discrete unimodality

Characterizations of discrete unimodality are studied. They are applied to prove some criteria for characteristic functions of discrete unimodal distributions and to obtain a discrete analogue of the Gauss inequality. Proceedings of the Seminar on Stability Problems for Stochastic Models, Moscow, Russia. 1996. Part II.     

On discrete distributions of orderk

Summary The class of discrete distributions of orderk is defined as the class of the generalized discrete distributions with generalizer a discrete distribution truncated at zero and from the right away fromk+1. The probability function and factorial moments of these distributions are expressed in terms of the (right) truncated Bell (partition) polynomials and several special cases are briefly examined. Finally a Poisson process of orderk, leading in particular to the Poisson distribution of orderk, is discussed.     

Mode estimation for discrete distributions

The problem of estimating the mode of a discrete distribution is considered. New characterizations of discrete unimodal and multi-modal distributions are obtained. The proposed mode estimator is essentially the sample mode, modulo appropriate modifications when the sample mode is not well defined. In the case of i.i.d. observations coming from a unimodal discrete distribution, our proposed mode estimator is shown to possess a number of strong asymptotic properties. Many of these results extend to the case of multi-modal discrete distributions as well. Our method also applies — and we have similar asymptotic results — to the problem of mode estimation based on finitely many observations on a Markov chain whose equilibrium distribution is the underlying unimodal distribution. For unimodal discrete distributions, we also propose a consistent large sample test of mode based on the proposed statistic. Applications of mode estimation problem in Monte-Carlo optimization problem using the Hastings Metropolis chain and in prediction problem using binary response variable, specially in the context of dose-response experiments, are also illustrated.     

On a new system of discrete distributions and characterizations of several discrete distributions by equality of distributions

This paper deals with a new system of discrete distributions. It also gives several characterizations of the Waring (and hence the Yule) distribution (and its truncated versions), the super-Poisson, the discrete uniform and other discrete distributions by using this system and other such systems existing in the literature, and linear regression. Continuous analogues of the above results are also briefly discussed.     

Asymptotic properties of sample quantiles of discrete distributions

The asymptotic distribution of sample quantiles in the classical definition is well-known to be normal for absolutely continuous distributions. However, this is no longer true for discrete distributions or samples with ties. We show that the definition of sample quantiles based on mid-distribution functions resolves this issue and provides a unified framework for asymptotic properties of sample quantiles from absolutely continuous and from discrete distributions. We demonstrate that the same asymptotic normal distribution result as for the classical sample quantiles holds at differentiable points, whereas a more general form arises for distributions whose cumulative distribution function has only one-sided differentiability. For discrete distributions with finite support, the same type of asymptotics holds and the sample quantiles based on mid-distribution functions either follow a normal or a two-piece normal distribution. We also calculate the exact distribution of these sample quantiles for the binomial and Poisson distributions. We illustrate the asymptotic results with simulations.     

Recursive formulas for discrete distributions

We apply power series techniques for differential equations on probability generating functions to derive recursive formulas for discrete compound distributions. Such formulas are computationally effective and useful in risk theory.     

The preservation of classes of discrete distributions under convolution and mixing

In this paper we consider some widely utilized classes of discrete distributions and aim to provide a systematic overview about their preservation under convolution and mixing. Moreover, inclusion properties among these classes are discussed. This paper will serve as a detailed reference for the study and applications of the preservation of the classes of discrete distributions.     

Computational methods for discrete hidden semi-Markov chains

We propose a computational approach for implementing discrete hidden semi-Markov chains. A discrete hidden semi-Markov chain is composed of a non-observable or hidden process which is a finite semi-Markov chain and a discrete observable process. Hidden semi-Markov chains possess both the flexibility of hidden Markov chains for approximating complex probability distributions and the flexibility of semi-Markov chains for representing temporal structures. Efficient algorithms for computing characteristic distributions organized according to the intensity, interval and counting points of view are described. The proposed computational approach in conjunction with statistical inference algorithms previously proposed makes discrete hidden semi-Markov chains a powerful model for the analysis of samples of non-stationary discrete sequences. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiparameter estimation for some multivariate discrete distributions with possibly dependent components

Summary In multiparameter estimation for multivariate discrete distributions with infinite support, inadmissibility problems in situations where the multivariate probability distribution function isnot a product of the one-dimensional marginal probability distribution functions have previously been unexplored. This paper examines the inadmissibility problem in some of these situations. Special attention is given to estimating the mean of a negative multinomial distribution. In estimating the mean vector, certain Clevenson-Zidek type estimators are shown to be uniformly better than the usual estimator under a large class of generally scaled squared loss functions. Some of the results are generalized to other multivariate discrete distributions and to situations where several independent negative multinomial distributions are considered.     

Canonical representation of conditionally specified multivariate discrete distributions

Most work on conditionally specified distributions has focused on approaches that operate on the probability space, and the constraints on the probability space often make the study of their properties challenging. We propose decomposing both the joint and conditional discrete distributions into characterizing sets of canonical interactions, and we prove that certain interactions of a joint distribution are shared with its conditional distributions. This invariance opens the door for checking the compatibility between conditional distributions involving the same set of variables. We formulate necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence and uniqueness of discrete conditional models, and we show how a joint distribution can be easily computed from the pool of interactions collected from the conditional distributions. Hence, the methods can be used to calculate the exact distribution of a Gibbs sampler. Furthermore, issues such as how near compatibility can be reconciled are also discussed. Using mixed parametrization, we show that the proposed approach is based on the canonical parameters, while the conventional approaches are based on the mean parameters. Our advantage is partly due to the invariance that holds only for the canonical parameters.     

Robust newsvendor problems: effect of discrete demands

Distribution-free newsvendor models often assume continuous demand distributions to facilitate analysis and computation. However, in practice, discrete demand is a natural phenomenon. So far, there exists no analytical and computational results in the literature under this setting. Thus, the goal of this paper is to investigate the newsvendor problems with partial information when the demand is discrete and solve them using the so-called discrete moment problems. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the value of discrete information.

     

Approximation of inverse moments of discrete distributions

For a wide class of discrete distributions, we derive a representation of the inverse (negative) moments through the Stirling numbers of the first kind and inverse factorial moments. We specialize the results for the Poisson, binomial, hypergeometric and negative binomial distributions.     

Simple and efficient algorithms for computing exact cumulative discrete probabilities and its inverses

Summary  This paper deals with the computation of exact cumulative probabilities of discrete distributions and its inverses. For the computation of cumulative probabilities an efficient and universal algorithm of 15 lines is presented, which can be applied to the most important discrete distributions (e.g. the binomial, the poisson and the hypergeometric distribution). With a slight modification an algorithm of 20 lines is obtained for the calculation of the respective inverse distributions. The accuracy of both algorithms can be specified. Both algorithms are simple, very fast and numerically stable even if the sample size is one billion.     

Generalization to the sufficient conditions for a discrete random variable to be infinitely divisible

The convenient sufficient conditions for the infinite divisibility of discrete distributions are generalized. A numerical example is presented. The role of infinitely divisible distributions in applications is discussed.     

Deviations of discrete distributions and a question of Móri

In this note, we consider a question of Móri regarding estimating the deviation of the kth terms of two discrete probability distributions in terms of the supremum distance between their generating functions over the interval [0,1]. An optimal bound for distributions on finite support is obtained. Properties of Chebyshev polynomials are employed.     

A recursive algorithm for convolutions of discrete uniform distributions

In the present note we give a recursive algorithm for convolutions of discrete uniform distributions.     

Estimation of parameters in the discrete distributions of order k

This paper considers estimating parameters in the discrete distributions of order k such as the binomial, the geometric, the Poisson and the logarithmic series distributions of order k. It is discussed how to calculate maximum likelihood estimates of parameters of the distributions based on independent observations. Further, asymptotic properties of estimators by the method of moments are investigated. In some cases, it is found that the values of asymptotic efficiency of the moment estimators are surprisingly close to one.     

A Property of the mean deviation (Of some discrete distributions)

Summary This note describes an interesting property of the mean deviation which holds for a number of commonly known discrete distributions. The property is also examined for some of the well-known continuous distributions.