A penalty method for nonparametric estimation of the logarithmic derivative of a density function

Summary Given a random sample of sizen from a densityf ₀ on the real line satisfying certain regularity conditions, we propose a nonparametric estimator forψ ₀=−f ₀ ^′ /f⁰. The estimate is the minimizer of a quadratic functional of the formλJ(ψ)+∫ψ ²−2ψ′]dF_n where λ>0 is a smoothing parameter,J(·) is a roughness penalty, andF _n is the empirical c.d.f. of the sample. A characterization of the estimate (useful for computational purposes) is given which is related to spline functions. A more complete study of the caseJ(ψ)=∫d ²ψ/dx²]² is given, since it has the desirable property of giving the maximum likelihood normal estimate in the infinite smoothness limit (λ→∞). Asymptotics under somewhat restrictive assumptions (periodicity) indicate that the estimator is asymptotically consistent and achieves the optimal rate of convergence. This type of estimator looks promising because the minimization problem is simple in comparison with the analogous penalized likelihood estimators. This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant Number N00014-82-C-0062.