Smoothed jackknife empirical likelihood method for ROC curve

In this paper we propose a smoothed jackknife empirical likelihood method to construct confidence intervals for the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. By applying the standard empirical likelihood method for a mean to the jackknife sample, the empirical likelihood ratio statistic can be calculated by simply solving a single equation. Therefore, this procedure is easy to implement. Wilks’ theorem for the empirical likelihood ratio statistic is proved and a simulation study is conducted to compare the performance of the proposed method with other methods.     

Jackknife empirical likelihood test for the equality of degrees of freedom in t-copulas

It has been argued that fitting a t-copula to financial data is superior to a normal copula. To overcome the shortcoming that a t-copula only has one parameter for the degrees of freedom, the t-copula with multiple parameters of degrees of freedom has been proposed in the literature, which generalizes both the t-copulas and the grouped t-copulas. Like the inference for a t-copula, a computationally efficient inference procedure is to first estimate the correlation matrix via Kendall's τ and then to estimate the parameters of degrees of freedom via pseudo maximum likelihood estimation. This paper proposes a jackknife empirical likelihood test for testing the equality of some parameters of degrees of freedom based on this two-step inference procedure, and shows that the Wilks theorem holds.     

Comparison of two variances under inequality constraints by using empirical likelihood method

In this article, the empirical likelihood introduced by Owen Biometrika, 75, 237-249 （1988） is applied to test the variances of two populations under inequality constraints on the parameter space. One reason that we do the research is because many literatures in this area are limited to testing the mean of one population or means of more than one populations; the other but much more important reason is： even if two or more populations are considered, the parameter space is always without constraint. In reality, parameter space with some kind of constraints can be met everywhere. Nuisance parameter is unavoidable in this case and makes the estimators unstable. Therefore the analysis on it becomes rather complicated. We focus our work on the relatively complicated testing issue over two variances under inequality constraints, leaving the issue over two means to be its simple ratiocination. We prove that the limiting distribution of the empirical likelihood ratio test statistic is either a single chi-square distribution or the mixture of two equally weighted chi-square distributions.     

Balanced augmented jackknife empirical likelihood for two sample U-statistics

In this paper, we investigate the two sample U-statistics by jackknife empirical likelihood(JEL),a versatile nonparametric approach. More precisely, we propose the method of balanced augmented jackknife empirical likelihood(BAJEL) by adding two artificial points to the original pseudo-value dataset, and we prove that the log likelihood ratio based on the expanded dataset tends to the χ~2 distribution.     

Jackknife-blockwise empirical likelihood methods under dependence

Empirical likelihood for general estimating equations is a method for testing hypothesis or constructing confidence regions on parameters of interest. If the number of parameters of interest is smaller than that of estimating equations, a profile empirical likelihood has to be employed. In case of dependent data, a profile blockwise empirical likelihood method can be used. However, if too many nuisance parameters are involved, a computational difficulty in optimizing the profile empirical likelihood arises. Recently, Li et al. (2011) [9] proposed a jackknife empirical likelihood method to reduce the computation in the profile empirical likelihood methods for independent data. In this paper, we propose a jackknife-blockwise empirical likelihood method to overcome the computational burden in the profile blockwise empirical likelihood method for weakly dependent data.     

Semi-empirical likelihood ratio confidence intervals for the difference of two sample means

We all know that we can use the likelihood ratio statistic to test hypotheses and construct confidence intervals in full parametric models. Recently, Owen (1988,Biometrika,75, 237–249; 1990,Ann. Statist.,18, 90–120) has introduced the empirical likelihood method in nonparametric models. In this paper, we combine these two likelihoods together and use the likelihood ratio to construct confidence intervals in a semiparametric problem, in which one model is parametric, and the other is nonparametric. A version of Wilks's theorem is developed.     

Partial penalized empirical likelihood ratio test under sparse case

A consistent test via the partial penalized empirical likelihood approach for the parametric hypothesis testing under the sparse case, called the partial penalized empirical likelihood ratio (PPELR) test, is proposed in this paper. Our results are demonstrated for the mean vector in multivariate analysis and regression coefficients in linear models, respectively. And we establish its asymptotic distributions under the null hypothesis and the local alternatives of order n^?1/2 under regularity conditions. Meanwhile, the oracle property of the partial penalized empirical likelihood estimator also holds. The proposed PPELR test statistic performs as well as the ordinary empirical likelihood ratio test statistic and outperforms the full penalized empirical likelihood ratio test statistic in term of size and power when the null parameter is zero. Moreover, the proposed method obtains the variable selection as well as the p-values of testing. Numerical simulations and an analysis of Prostate Cancer data confirm our theoretical findings and demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed method in hypothesis testing and variable selection.     

Calibration of the empirical likelihood for high-dimensional data

This article is concerned with the calibration of the empirical likelihood (EL) for high-dimensional data where the data dimension may increase as the sample size increases. We analyze the asymptotic behavior of the EL under a general multivariate model and provide weak conditions under which the best rate for the asymptotic normality of the empirical likelihood ratio (ELR) is achieved. In addition, there is usually substantial lack-of-fit when the ELR is calibrated by the usual normal in high dimensions, producing tests with type I errors much larger than nominal levels. We find that this is mainly due to the underestimation of the centralized and normalized quantities of the ELR. By examining the connection between the ELR and the classical Hotelling’s $T$ -square statistic, we propose an effective calibration method which works much better in most situations.     

Adjusted empirical likelihood method for quantiles

Empirical likelihood (EL) was first applied to quantiles by Chen and Hall (1993,Ann. Statist.,21, 1166–1181). In this paper, we shall propose an alternative EL approach which is also some kind of the kernel method. It not only eliminates the need to solve nonlinear equations, but also is extremely easy to implement. Confidence intervals derived from the proposed approach are shown, by an nonparametric version of Wilks' theorem, to have the same order of coverage accuracy (order 1/n) as those of Chen and Hall. Numerical results are presented to compare our method with other methods.     

An empirical likelihood approach under cluster sampling with missing observations

The parameter of interest considered is the unique solution to a set of estimating equations, such as regression parameters of generalised linear models. We consider a design-based approach; that is, the sampling distribution is specified by stratification, cluster (multi-stage) sampling, unequal selection probabilities, side information and a response mechanism. The proposed empirical likelihood approach takes into account of these features. Empirical likelihood has been mostly developed under more restrictive settings, such as independent and identically distributed assumption, which is violated under a design-based framework. A proper empirical likelihood approach which deals with cluster sampling, missing data and multidimensional parameters is absent in the literature. This paper shows that a cluster-level empirical log-likelihood ratio statistic is pivotal. The main contribution of the paper is to provide the rigorous asymptotic theory and underlining regularity conditions which imply \({\surd {n}}\)-consistency and the Wilks’s theorem or self-normalisation property. Negligible and large sampling fractions are considered.

     

Semiparametric empirical likelihood estimation for two-stage outcome-dependent sampling under the frame of generalized linear models

Epidemiologic studies use outcome-dependent sampling （ODS） schemes where, in addition to a simple random sample, there are also a number of supplement samples that are collected based on outcome variable. ODS scheme is a cost-effective way to improve study efficiency. We develop a maximum semiparametric empirical likelihood estimation （MSELE） for data from a two-stage ODS scheme under the assumption that given covariate, the outcome follows a general linear model. The information of both validation samples and nonvalidation samples are used. What is more, we prove the asymptotic properties of the proposed MSELE.     

Blockwise empirical likelihood for time series of counts

Time series of counts have a wide variety of applications in real life. Analyzing time series of counts requires accommodations for serial dependence, discreteness, and overdispersion of data. In this paper, we extend blockwise empirical likelihood (Kitamura, 1997 [15]) to the analysis of time series of counts under a regression setting. In particular, our contribution is the extension of Kitamura’s (1997) [15] method to the analysis of nonstationary time series. Serial dependence among observations is treated nonparametrically using a blocking technique; and overdispersion in count data is accommodated by the specification of a variance-mean relationship. We establish consistency and asymptotic normality of the maximum blockwise empirical likelihood estimator. Simulation studies show that our method has a good finite sample performance. The method is also illustrated by analyzing two real data sets: monthly counts of poliomyelitis cases in the USA and daily counts of non-accidental deaths in Toronto, Canada.     

An empirical likelihood approach to data analysis under two-stage sampling designs

A new empirical likelihood approach is developed to analyze data from two-stage sampling designs, in which a primary sample of rough or proxy measures for the variables of interest and a validation subsample of exact information are available. The validation sample is assumed to be a simple random subsample from the primary one. The proposed empirical likelihood approach is capable of utilizing all the information from both the specific models and the two available samples flexibly. It maintains some nice features of the empirical likelihood method and improves the asymptotic efficiency of the existing inferential procedures. The asymptotic properties are derived for the new approach. Some numerical studies are carried out to assess the finite sample performance.     

A modification of profile empirical likelihood for the exponential-tilt model

We consider semiparametric models whose infinite-dimensional parameter corresponds to a probability distribution. The NPMLE based on the profile empirical likelihood for this kind of semiparametric model has attracted considerable interest. We propose the use of a modified profile empirical likelihood to improve the accuracy of this estimation. We consider applications to the exponential-tilt model and show that the accuracy of the proposed estimator is better than that of the conventional NPMLE by numerical study.     

Joint empirical likelihood confidence regions for a finite number of quantiles under strong mixing samples

In this paper, we obtain the joint empirical likelihood confidence regions for a finite number of quantiles under strong mixing samples. As an application of this result, the empirical likelihood confidence intervals for the difference of any two quantiles are also obtained.     

Two-step generalised empirical likelihood inference for semiparametric models

This paper shows how the generalised empirical likelihood method can be used to obtain valid asymptotic inference for the finite dimensional component of semiparametric models defined by a set of moment conditions. The results of the paper are illustrated using three well-known semiparametric regression models: partially linear single index, linear transformation with random censoring, and quantile regression with random censoring. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that some of the proposed test statistics have competitive finite sample properties. The results of the paper are applied to test for functional misspecification in a hedonic price model of a housing market.     

Profile empirical likelihood for parametric and semiparametric models

This paper introduces a profile empirical likelihood and a profile conditionally empirical likelihood to estimate the parameter of interest in the presence of nuisance parameters respectively for the parametric and semiparametric models. It is proven that these methods propose some efficient estimators of parameters of interest in the sense of least-favorable efficiency. Particularly, for the decomposable semiparametric models, an explicit representation for the estimator of parameter of interest is derived from the proposed nonparametric method. These new estimations are different from and more efficient than the existing estimations. Some examples and simulation studies are given to illustrate the theoretical results. The first author is supported by NNSF projects (10371059 and 10171051) of China. The second author is supported by a grant from The Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (#HKU7060/04P). The third author is supported by the University Research Committee of the University of Hong Kong and a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. HKU7323/01M).     

The empirical likelihood goodness-of-fit test for regression model

Goodness-of-fit test for regression modes has received much attention in literature. In this paper, empirical likelihood (EL) goodness-of-fit tests for regression models including classical parametric and autoregressive (AR) time series models are proposed. Unlike the existing locally smoothing and globally smoothing methodologies, the new method has the advantage that the tests are self-scale invariant and that the asymptotic null distribution is chi-squared. Simulations are carried out to illustrate the methodology.