Shrinkage drift parameter estimation for multi‐factor Ornstein–Uhlenbeck processes

We consider some inference problems concerning the drift parameters of multi‐factors Vasicek model (or multivariate Ornstein–Uhlebeck process). For example, in modeling for interest rates, the Vasicek model asserts that the term structure of interest rate is not just a single process, but rather a superposition of several analogous processes. This motivates us to develop an improved estimation theory for the drift parameters when homogeneity of several parameters may hold. However, the information regarding the equality of these parameters may be imprecise. In this context, we consider Stein‐rule (or shrinkage) estimators that allow us to improve on the performance of the classical maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). Under an asymptotic distributional quadratic risk criterion, their relative dominance is explored and assessed. We illustrate the suggested methods by analyzing interbank interest rates of three European countries. Further, a simulation study illustrates the behavior of the suggested method for observation periods of small and moderate lengths of time. Our analytical and simulation results demonstrate that shrinkage estimators (SEs) provide excellent estimation accuracy and outperform the MLE uniformly. An over‐ridding theme of this paper is that the SEs provide powerful extensions of their classical counterparts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal rates for parameter estimation of stationary Gaussian processes

We study rates of convergence in central limit theorems for partial sums of polynomial functionals of general stationary and asymptotically stationary Gaussian sequences, using tools from analysis on Wiener space. In the quadratic case, thanks to newly developed optimal tools, we derive sharp results, i.e. upper and lower bounds of the same order, where the convergence rates are given explicitly in the Wasserstein distance via an analysis of the functionals’ absolute third moments. These results are tailored to the question of parameter estimation, which introduces a need to control variance convergence rates. We apply our result to study drift parameter estimation problems for some stochastic differential equations driven by fractional Brownian motion with fixed-time-step observations.     

Optimal estimation of a signal perturbed by a sub-fractional Brownian motion

We consider the problem of optimal estimation of the vector parameter θ of the drift term in a sub-fractional Brownian motion. We obtain the maximum likelihood estimator as well as Bayesian estimator when the prior distribution is Gaussian.     

Computing the first passage time density of a time-dependent Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process to a moving boundary

In this paper we use the method of images to derive the closed-form formula for the first passage time density of a time-dependent Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process to a parametric class of moving boundaries. The results are then applied to develop a simple, efficient and systematic approximation scheme to compute tight upper and lower bounds of the first passage time density through a fixed boundary.     

BOOTSTRAP MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATION OF THE PARAMETER IN SPECTRAL DENSITY OF STATIONARY PROCESSES

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Information amount and higher-order efficiency in estimation

By means of second-order asymptotic approximation, the paper clarifies the relationship between the Fisher information of first-order asymptotically efficient estimators and their decision-theoretic performance. It shows that if the estimators are modified so that they have the same asymptotic bias, the information amount can be connected with the risk based on convex loss functions in such a way that the greater information loss of an estimator implies its greater risk. The information loss of the maximum likelihood estimator is shown to be minimal in a general set-up. A multinomial model is used for illustration.     

roperties and Applications of Alpha Power Gamma Distribution

In this paper, the gamma distribution has been extended by adding an extra shape parameter, we refer to the new distribution as alpha power gamma distribution. It is found that the distribution has a relatively flexible hazard rate function. The properties of the new distribution are studied, including explicit expressions for the $s^{\text{th}}$ raw moments, moment generating function and distributions of order statistics are derived. Also, the integral expressions for the entropy, mean residual life and mean waiting time are obtained. The maximum likelihood estimators of the distribution parameters under complete sample are discussed, the Fisher information matrix is derived. Then, the estimation of the parameters under the general progressive type-II censoring is studied. Finally, the real data set is used to illustrate the practicality of the proposed distribution.     

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??In this paper, the gamma distribution has been extended by adding an extra shape parameter, we refer to the new distribution as alpha power gamma distribution. It is found that the distribution has a relatively flexible hazard rate function. The properties of the new distribution are studied, including explicit expressions for the $s^{\text{th}}$ raw moments, moment generating function and distributions of order statistics are derived. Also, the integral expressions for the entropy, mean residual life and mean waiting time are obtained. The maximum likelihood estimators of the distribution parameters under complete sample are discussed, the Fisher information matrix is derived. Then, the estimation of the parameters under the general progressive type-II censoring is studied. Finally, the real data set is used to illustrate the practicality of the proposed distribution.     

Parameter estimation for partially observable systems subject to random failure

In this paper, we present a parameter estimation procedure for a condition‐based maintenance model under partial observations. Systems can be in a healthy or unhealthy operational state, or in a failure state. System deterioration is driven by a continuous time homogeneous Markov chain and the system state is unobservable, except the failure state. Vector information that is stochastically related to the system state is obtained through condition monitoring at equidistant sampling times. Two types of data histories are available — data histories that end with observable failure, and censored data histories that end when the system has been suspended from operation but has not failed. The state and observation processes are modeled in the hidden Markov framework and the model parameters are estimated using the expectation–maximization algorithm. We show that both the pseudolikelihood function and the parameter updates in each iteration of the expectation–maximization algorithm have explicit formulas. A numerical example is developed using real multivariate spectrometric oil data coming from the failing transmission units of 240‐ton heavy hauler trucks used in the Athabasca oil sands of Alberta, Canada. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A penalty method for nonparametric estimation of the intensity function of a counting process

Nonparametric estimators are proposed for the logarithm of the intensity function of some univariate counting processes. An Aalen multiplicative intensity model is specified for our counting process and the estimators are derived by a penalized maximum likelihood method similar to the method introduced by Silverman for probability density estimation. Asymptotic properties of the estimators, such as uniform consistency and normality, are investigated and some illustrative examples from survival theory are analyzed.This work was conducted while the author was visiting the Department of Mathematics, University of California at Irvine.     

Pareto分布环境因子的估计及其应用

给出了Pareto分布环境因子的定义,讨论了在定数截尾样本下Pareto分布环境因子的极大似然估计和修正极大似然估计,并尝试把环境因子用于可靠性评估中.最后运用Monte Carlo方法对极大似然估计,修正极大似然估计和可靠性指标的均方误差(MSE),进行了模拟比较,结果表明修正极大似然估计优于极大似然估计且考虑环境因子的可靠性评估结果较好.     

Aggregation and the estimation of equation systems

Simulations based on two sets of data are used to assess the impact of combining equations on the accuracy of parameter estimates and their asymptotic standard errors.     

Penalized maximum likelihood estimation for a function of the intensity of a Poisson point process

Let be an unknown 2 times differentiable function and consider M to be an α- homogeneous Poisson process on Graf(f). The goal is to estimate f having a sample of the inhomogeneous Poisson process N constructed by dislocating each point of M perpendicularly to Graf(f) by a normal random variable with zero mean and constant variance σ². The exact formulas for the mean measure and the intensity function of N are obtained. Then, the function f is estimated directly using a hybrid spline approach to penalized maximum likelihood. Simulation results indicate the procedure to be consistent as and .      

A note on Sheppard's corrections for grouping and maximum likelihood estimation

Sheppard's corrections for grouping can, in the case of an underlying normal distribution, be interpreted as a first step to the solution of the maximum likelihood equations which incorporate the grouping problem. This result of Lindley (for the univariate) and Haitovsky (for the bivariate) is generalized to the multivariate normal distribution, making use of recent results in matrix algebra. Also, formulae concerning the efficiency lost in grouping are generalized to the multivariate case.     

Bivariate Birnbaum–Saunders distribution and associated inference

Univariate Birnbaum–Saunders distribution has been used quite effectively to model positively skewed data, especially lifetime data and crack growth data. In this paper, we introduce bivariate Birnbaum–Saunders distribution which is an absolutely continuous distribution whose marginals are univariate Birnbaum–Saunders distributions. Different properties of this bivariate Birnbaum–Saunders distribution are then discussed. This new family has five unknown parameters and it is shown that the maximum likelihood estimators can be obtained by solving two non-linear equations. We also propose simple modified moment estimators for the unknown parameters which are explicit and can therefore be used effectively as an initial guess for the computation of the maximum likelihood estimators. We then present the asymptotic distributions of the maximum likelihood estimators and use them to construct confidence intervals for the parameters. We also discuss likelihood ratio tests for some hypotheses of interest. Monte Carlo simulations are then carried out to examine the performance of the proposed estimators. Finally, a numerical data analysis is performed in order to illustrate all the methods of inference discussed here.     

Optimum ramp-stress accelerated life test for m identical repairable systems

This paper proposes optimum ramp accelerated life test (ALT) of m identical repairable systems using non-homogeneous power law process (PLP) under failure truncated case. An ALT with linearly increasing stress is a ramp test. In particular, a ramp test with two different linearly increasing stresses is a simple ramp test. The optimum ramp test with different stress rates is formulated by determining the proportions of test systems allocated to each stress rate using D-optimality criterion. D-optimality criterion minimizes the reciprocal of the determinant of the Fisher information matrix of the model parameters. The method developed is illustrated using two stress rates and three stress rates. It has been found that it takes much longer to obtain same estimated expected no. of failures at baseline condition than at stress levels.     

Inference for earthquake models: A self-correcting model

Questions of asymptotic inference are discussed for a point process model in which the conditional intensity function increases monotonically between events and drops by determined (nonrandom) amounts after each event. Parameter estimates are shown to be consistent and, except under the null hypothesis of a Poisson process, normally distributed. Under the null hypothesis, however, the Hessian matrix is not asymptotically constant, and the limiting distribution of the likelihood ratio statistics is not χ², but has a form related to that of the Cramer-von Mises ω² statistic for the test of goodness of fit.     

Computation of the maximum likelihood estimate of a noncentrality parameter

An algorithm and error analysis are presented for finding the maximum likelihood estimator of the noncentrality parameter of the χ² and F distributions.