Estimation of a Multivariate Normal Covariance Matrix with Staircase Pattern Data

In this paper, we study the problem of estimating a multivariate normal covariance matrix with staircase pattern data. Two kinds of parameterizations in terms of the covariance matrix are used. One is Cholesky decomposition and another is Bartlett decomposition. Based on Cholesky decomposition of the covariance matrix, the closed form of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the covariance matrix is given. Using Bayesian method, we prove that the best equivariant estimator of the covariance matrix with respect to the special group related to Cholesky decomposition uniquely exists under the Stein loss. Consequently, the MLE of the covariance matrix is inadmissible under the Stein loss. Our method can also be applied to other invariant loss functions like the entropy loss and the symmetric loss. In addition, based on Bartlett decomposition of the covariance matrix, the Jeffreys prior and the reference prior of the covariance matrix with staircase pattern data are also obtained. Our reference prior is different from Berger and Yang’s reference prior. Interestingly, the Jeffreys prior with staircase pattern data is the same as that with complete data. The posterior properties are also investigated. Some simulation results are given for illustration.     

A Comparison of Restricted and Unrestricted Estimators in Estimating Linear Functions of Ordered Scale Parameters of Two Gamma Distributions

The problem of estimating linear functions of ordered scale parameters of two Gamma distributions is considered. A necessary and sufficient condition on the ratio of two coefficients is given for the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) to dominate the crude unbiased estimator (UE) in terms of mean square error. A modified MLE which satisfies the restriction is also suggested, and a necessary and sufficient condition is also given for it to dominate the admissible estimator based solely on one sample. The estimation of linear functions of variances in two sample problem and also of variance components in a one-way random effect model is mentioned.     

A note on the asymptotic distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator in a non-regular case

We consider the asymptotic distribution of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), when the log-likelihood ratio statistic weakly converges to the non-degenerated Gaussian process. We provide a simple expression for the density function of the asymptotic distribution by fundamental stochastic results. This note is helpful to investigate asymptotic properties of the MLE in a certain non-regular case.     

Estimation of a common parameter for pooled samples from the uniform distributions

Summary The problem to estimate a common parameter for the pooled sample from the uniform distributions is discussed in the presence of nuisance parameters. The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and others are compared and it is shown that the MLE based on the pooled sample is not (asymptotically) efficient.     

On the Maximum Likelihood Estimation of a Covariance Matrix

For a multivariate normal set-up, it is well known that themaximumlikelihood estimator (MLE) of covariance matrix is neither admissible nor minimax under the Stein loss function. In this paper, we reveal that the MLE based on the Iwasawa parameterization leads to minimaxity with respect to the Stein loss function. Furthermore, a novel class of loss functions is proposed so that the minimum risks of the MLEs are identical in different coordinate systems, Cholesky parameterization and full Iwasawa parameterization. In other words, the MLEs based on these two different parameterizations are characterized by the property of minimaxity, without a Stein paradox. The application of our novel method to the high-dimensional covariance matrix problem is also discussed.     

Kullback-Leibler Information Consistent Estimation for Censored Data

This paper is intended as an investigation of parametric estimation for the randomly right censored data. In parametric estimation, the Kullback-Leibler information is used as a measure of the divergence of a true distribution generating a data relative to a distribution in an assumed parametric model M. When the data is uncensored, maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) is a consistent estimator of minimizing the Kullback-Leibler information, even if the assumed model M does not contain the true distribution. We call this property minimum Kullback-Leibler information consistency (MKLI-consistency). However, the MLE obtained by maximizing the likelihood function based on the censored data is not MKLI-consistent. As an alternative to the MLE, Oakes (1986, Biometrics, 42, 177–182) proposed an estimator termed approximate maximum likelihood estimator (AMLE) due to its computational advantage and potential for robustness. We show MKLI-consistency and asymptotic normality of the AMLE under the misspecification of the parametric model. In a simulation study, we investigate mean square errors of these two estimators and an estimator which is obtained by treating a jackknife corrected Kaplan-Meier integral as the log-likelihood. On the basis of the simulation results and the asymptotic results, we discuss comparison among these estimators. We also derive information criteria for the MLE and the AMLE under censorship, and which can be used not only for selecting models but also for selecting estimation procedures.     

Necessary conditions for dominating the James-Stein estimator

This paper develops necessary conditions for an estimator to dominate the James-Stein estimator and hence the James-Stein positive-part estimator. The ultimate goal is to find classes of such dominating estimators which are admissible. While there are a number of results giving classes of estimators dominating the James-Stein estimator, the only admissible estimator known to dominate the James-Stein estimator is the generalized Bayes estimator relative to the fundamental harmonic function in three and higher dimension. The prior was suggested by Stein and the domination result is due to Kubokawa. Shao and Strawderman gave a class of estimators dominating the James-Stein positive-part estimator but were unable to demonstrate admissiblity of any in their class. Maruyama, following a suggestion of Stein, has studied generalized Bayes estimators which are members of a point mass at zero and a prior similar to the harmonic prior. He finds a subclass which is minimax and admissible but is unable to show that any in his class with positive point mass at zero dominate the James-Stein estimator. The results in this paper show that a subclass of Maruyama's procedures including the class that Stein conjectured might contain members dominating the James-Stein estimator cannot dominate the James-Stein estimator. We also show that under reasonable conditions, the “constant” in shrinkage factor must approachp-2 for domination to hold.     

基于混合Ⅱ型删失数据的Weibull模型精确推断和可接受抽样计划(英文)

本文考虑基于混合Ⅱ型删失数据的Weibull模型精确推断和可接受抽样计划.得到威布尔分布未知参数最大似然估计的精确分布以及基于精确分布的置信区间.由于精确分布函数较为复杂,给出未知参数的另外几种置信区间,基于近似方法的置信区间.为了评价本文的方法,给出一些数值模拟的结果.且讨论了可靠性中的可接受抽样计划问题.利用参数最大似然估计的精确分布,给出一个可接受抽样计划的执行程序和数值模拟结果.     

On estimation in multivariate linear calibration with elliptical errors

The estimation problem in multivariate linear calibration with elliptical errors is considered under a loss function which can be derived from the Kullback-Leibler distance. First, we discuss the problem under normal errors and give unbiased estimate of risk of an alternative estimator by means of the Stein and Stein-Haff identities for multivariate normal distribution. From the unbiased estimate of risk, it is shown that a shrinkage estimator improves on the classical estimator under the loss function. Furthermore, from the extended Stein and Stein-Haff identities for our elliptically contoured distribution, the above result under normal errors is extended to the estimation problem under elliptical errors. We show that the shrinkage estimator obtained under normal models is better than the classical estimator under elliptical errors with the above loss function and hence we establish the robustness of the above shrinkage estimator.     

Admissibility of the maximum likelihood estimator in the regression of two predictands on one predictor

Summary Stein [2] has shown that the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of the regression coefficients is admissible in unvariate regression with one predictor or with two predictors and known means. In a similar way it is shown in the present note that the MLE is admissible when there are two predictands and one predictor and the means are known.     

回归系数Stein压缩估计的小样本性质

本文在广义均方误差（GMSE）准则下给出了回归系数β的Stein估计优于最小二乘（LS）估计的充分必要条件，然后在Pitman Closeness(PC)准则下比较了Stein估计相对于LS估计的优良性，本文最后给出了一个特别的注记。     

Double Shrinkage Estimators in the GMANOVA Model

In the GMANOVA model or equivalent growth curve model, shrinkage effects on the MLE (maximum likelihood estimator) are considered under an invariant risk matrix. We first study the fundamental structure of the problem through which we decompose the estimation problem into some conditional problems and then demonstrate some classes of double shrinkage minimax estimators which uniformly dominate the MLE in the matrix risk.     

混合von Mises 模型的参数估计

有限混合von Mises模型在天文学、生物学、地理和医药等许多领域都有重要的应用．可是,不论样本量有多大,此模型的似然函数都是无界的．因此,参数的最大似然估计(MLE)是不相合的．我们发现,与混合正态模型一样,上述困难可以通过引入关于分布浓度参数的一个惩罚函数或对参数空间添加适当的约束来克服．在此文中,我们从理论上证明了这两种方法是可行的,相应的参数估计是强相合的,且是渐近有效的．我们还通过计算机模拟来探讨这些新方法在有限样本情况下的统计性质,并与现有的矩估计作了比较．结果发现,惩罚极大似然估计在均方误差方面表现最佳．最后我们还分析了一组实际数据,以进一步介绍新的估计方法．     

Semiparametric Maximum Likelihood for Missing Covariates in Parametric Regression

We consider parameter estimation in parametric regression models with covariates missing at random. This problem admits a semiparametric maximum likelihood approach which requires no parametric specification of the selection mechanism or the covariate distribution. The semiparametric maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) has been found to be consistent. We show here, for some specific models, that the semiparametric MLE converges weakly to a zero-mean Gaussian process in a suitable space. The regression parameter estimate, in particular, achieves the semiparametric information bound, which can be consistently estimated by perturbing the profile log-likelihood. Furthermore, the profile likelihood ratio statistic is asymptotically chi-squared. The techniques used here extend to other models.     

Adaptive Unified Biased Estimators of Parameters in Linear Model

To tackle multi collinearity or ill-conditioned design matrices in linear models,adaptive biasedestimators such as the time-honored Stein estimator,the ridge and the principal component estimators havebeen studied intensively.To study when a biased estimator uniformly outperforms the least squares estimator,some sufficient conditions are proposed in the literature.In this paper,we propose a unified framework toformulate a class of adaptive biased estimators.This class includes all existing biased estimators and some newones.A sufficient condition for outperforming the least squares estimator is proposed.In terms of selectingparameters in the condition,we can obtain all double-type conditions in the literature.     

Estimating a model through the conditional MLE

The estimation problem of a model through the conditional maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) is explored. The estimated model is compared using the two dual Kullback-Leibler losses with that through the unconditional MLE. The former is found to be superior to the latter under familiar models. This result is applicable to the model selection problem. These suggest a novel extensive use of the conditional likelihood, since the traditional use of the conditional likelihood was restricted only on inference for the structural parameter.     

排序集抽样下指数分布的产品可靠度研究

为了提高指数分布产品可靠度的估计效率,研究了基于排序集抽样方法的极大似然估计量(Maximum likelihood estimator,MLE),证明了新MLE具有存在性、唯一性和渐近正态性,并通过排序集样本的Fisher信息得到MLE的渐近方差。针对似然方程没有显式解的问题,利用部分期望法对MLE进行修正,并给出其具体表达式。渐近相对效率和模拟相对效率的研究结果表明:排序集抽样下MLE和修正MLE的估计效率都一致高于简单随机抽样下MLE。最后,将推荐方法应用到转移性肾癌的临床研究中。     

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.     

Shrinkage estimator in normal mean vector estimation based on conditional maximum likelihood estimators

Estimation of normal mean vector has broad applications such as small area estimation, estimation of nonparametric functions and estimation of wavelet coefficients. In this paper, we propose a new shrinkage estimator based on conditional maximum likelihood estimator incorporating with Stein’s risk unbiased estimator (SURE) when data have the normality. We present some theoretical work and provide numerical studies to compare with some existing methods.     

Joint modeling of cointegration and conditional heteroscedasticity with applications

A cointegrated vector AR-GARCH time series model is introduced. Least squares estimator, full rank maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), and reduced rank MLE of the model are presented. Monte Carlo experiments are conducted to illustrate the finite sample properties of the estimators. Its applicability is then demonstrated with the modeling of international stock indices and exchange rates. The model leads to reasonable financial interpretations.