This paper considers a simulation-based estimator for a general class of Markovian processes and explores some strong consistency properties of the estimator. The estimation problem is defined over a continuum of invariant distributions indexed by a vector of parameters. A key step in the method of proof is to show the uniform convergence (a.s.) of a family of sample distributions over the domain of parameters. This uniform convergence holds under mild continuity and monotonicity conditions on the dynamic process. The estimator is applied to an asset pricing model with technology adoption. A challenge for this model is to generate the observed high volatility of stock markets along with the much lower volatility of other real economic aggregates.
We generalize a method for proving uniform in bandwidth consistency results for kernel type estimators developed by the two last named authors. Such results are shown to be useful in establishing consistency of local polynomial estimators of the regression function.
This paper deals with a homoskedastic errors-in-variables linear regression model and properties of the total least squares (TLS) estimator. We partly revise the consistency results for the TLS estimator previously obtained by the author [18]. We present complete and comprehensive proofs of consistency theorems. A theoretical foundation for construction of the TLS estimator and its relation to the generalized eigenvalue problem is explained. Particularly, the uniqueness of the estimate is proved. The Frobenius norm in the definition of the estimator can be substituted by the spectral norm, or …
We are interested in the rate of consistency of kernel density estimators with respect to the weighted sup-norm determined by some unbounded weight function. This problem has been considered by Gine, Koltchinskii and Zinn (2004) for a deterministic bandwidth sequence. We provide "uniform in h" versions of some of their results, allowing us to determine the corresponding rates of consistency for kernel density estimators where the bandwidth sequences may depend on the data and/or the location.
The aim of this article is to simplify Pfanzagl's proof of consistency for asymptotic maximum likelihood estimators, and to extend it to more general asymptotic M-estimators. The method relies on the existence of a sort of contraction of the parameter space which admits the true parameter as a fixed point. The proofs are short and elementary.
Preferential attachment is widely used to model power-law behavior of degree distributions in both directed and undirected networks. Practical analyses on the tail exponent of the power-law degree distribution use the Hill estimator as one of the key summary statistics, whose consistency is justified mostly for iid data. The major goal in this paper is to answer the question whether the Hill estimator is still consistent when applied to non-iid network data. To do this, we first derive the asymptotic behavior of the degree sequence via embedding the degree growth of a fixed node into a birth i…
In finite mixtures of location-scale distributions, if there is no constraint or penalty on the parameters, then the maximum likelihood estimator does not exist because the likelihood is unbounded. To avoid this problem, we consider a penalized likelihood, where the penalty is a function of the minimum of the ratios of the scale parameters and the sample size. It is shown that the penalized maximum likelihood estimator is strongly consistent. We also analyze the consistency of a penalized maximum likelihood estimator where the penalty is imposed on the scale parameters themselves.
We consider Langevin equation involving fractional Brownian motion with Hurst index $H\in(0,\frac12)$. Its solution is the fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process and with unknown drift parameter $θ$. We construct the estimator that is similar in form to maximum likelihood estimator for Langevin equation with standard Brownian motion. Observations are discrete in time. It is assumed that the interval between observations is $n^{-1}$, i.e. tends to zero (high frequency data) and the number of observations increases to infinity as $n^m$ with $m>1$. It is proved that for positive $θ$ the estimator …
We consider a one-dimensional recurrent random walk in random environment (RWRE) when the environment is i.i.d. with a parametric, finitely supported distribution. Based on a single observation of the path, we provide a maximum likelihood estimation procedure of the parameters of the environment. Unlike most of the classical maximum likelihood approach, the limit of the criterion function is in general a nondegenerate random variable and convergence does not hold in probability. Not only the leading term but also the second order asymptotics is needed to fully identify the unknown parameter. W…
In 1991 Stute introduced a class of estimators called conditional U-statistics. They can be seen as a generalization of the Nadaraya-Watson estimator, and their strong pointwise consistency to the general regression function has been obtained in the same paper by Stute. Very recently, Gine and Mason introduced the notion of a local U-process, which generalizes that of a local empirical process, and obtained central limit theorems and laws of the iterated logarithm for this class. We apply the methods developed by Einmahl and Mason (2005) and Gine and Mason (2007a,b) to establish uniform in ban…
We prove the consistency of the Power-Law Fit PLFit method proposed by Clauset et al.(2009) to estimate the power-law exponent in data coming from a distribution function with regularly-varying tail. In the complex systems community, PLFit has emerged as the method of choice to estimate the power-law exponent. Yet, its mathematical properties are still poorly understood. The difficulty in PLFit is that it is a minimum-distance estimator. It first chooses a threshold that minimizes the Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance between the data points larger than the threshold and the Pareto tail, and then ap…
The article introduces spatial long-range dependent models based on the fractional difference operators associated with the Gegenbauer polynomials. The results on consistency and asymptotic normality of a class of minimum contrast estimators of long-range dependence parameters of the models are obtained. A methodology to verify assumptions for consistency and asymptotic normality of minimum contrast estimators is developed. Numerical results are presented to confirm the theoretical findings.
Multiplicative noise arises in inverse problems when, for example, uncertainty on measurements is proportional to the size of the measurement itself. The likelihood that arises is hence more complicated than that from additive noise. We consider two multiplicative noise models: purely multiplicative noise, and a mixture of multiplicative noise and additive noise. Adopting a Bayesian approach, we provide conditions for the resulting posterior distributions on Banach space to be continuous with respect to perturbations in the data; the inclusion of additive noise in addition to multiplicative no…
Let f_n denote a kernel density estimator of a continuous density f in d dimensions, bounded and positive. Let Ψ(t) be a positive continuous function such that \|Ψf^β\|_{\infty}<\infty for some 0<β<1/2. Under natural smoothness conditions, necessary and sufficient conditions for the sequence \sqrt\frac{nh_n^d}{2|\log h_n^d|}\|Ψ(t)(f_n(t)-Ef_n(t))\|_{\infty} to be stochastically bounded and to converge a.s. to a constant are obtained. Also, the case of larger values of βis studied where a similar sequence with a different norming converges a.s. either to 0 or to +\infty, depending on convergenc…
The class of observation-driven models (ODMs) includes many models of non-linear time series which, in a fashion similar to, yet different from, hidden Markov models (HMMs), involve hidden variables. Interestingly, in contrast to most HMMs, ODMs enjoy likelihoods that can be computed exactly with computational complexity of the same order as the number of observations, making maximum likelihood estimation the privileged approach for statistical inference for these models. A celebrated example of general order ODMs is the GARCH$(p,q)$ model, for which ergodicity and inference has been studied e…
Central limit theorems play an important role in the study of statistical inference for stochastic processes. However, when the nonparametric local polynomial threshold estimator, especially local linear case, is employed to estimate the diffusion coefficients of diffusion processes, the adaptive and predictable structure of the estimator conditionally on the $σ-$field generated by diffusion processes is destroyed, the classical central limit theorem for martingale difference sequences can not work. In this paper, we proved the central limit theorems of local polynomial threshold estimators fo…
We establish asymptotic properties of $M$-estimators, defined in terms of a contrast function and observations from a continuous-time locally stationary process. Using the stationary approximation of the sequence, $θ$-weak dependence, and hereditary properties, we give sufficient conditions on the contrast function that ensure consistency and asymptotic normality of the $M$-estimator. As an example, we obtain consistency and asymptotic normality of a localized least squares estimator for observations from a sequence of time-varying Lévy-driven Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes. Furthermore, for a s…
We consider the inverse problem of estimating an unknown function $u$ from noisy measurements $y$ of a known, possibly nonlinear, map $\mathcal{G}$ applied to $u$. We adopt a Bayesian approach to the problem and work in a setting where the prior measure is specified as a Gaussian random field $μ_0$. We work under a natural set of conditions on the likelihood which imply the existence of a well-posed posterior measure, $μ^y$. Under these conditions we show that the {\em maximum a posteriori} (MAP) estimator is well-defined as the minimiser of an Onsager-Machlup functional defined on the Cameron…
We first study the drift parameter estimation of the fractional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process (fOU) with periodic mean for every $\frac{1}{2}<H<1$. More precisely, we extend the consistency proved in \cite{DFW} for $\frac{1}{2}<H<\frac{3}{4}$ to the strong consistency for any $\frac{1}{2}<H<1$ on the one hand, and on the other, we also discuss the asymptotic normality given in \cite{DFW}. In the second main part of the paper, we study the strong consistency and the asymptotic normality of the fOU of the second kind with periodic mean for any $\frac{1}{2}<H<1$.
When analyzing modern machine learning algorithms, we may need to handle kernel density estimation (KDE) with intricate kernels that are not designed by the user and might even be irregular and asymmetric. To handle this emerging challenge, we provide a strong uniform consistency result with the $L^\infty$ convergence rate for KDE on Riemannian manifolds with Riemann integrable kernels (in the ambient Euclidean space). We also provide an $L^1$ consistency result for kernel density estimation on Riemannian manifolds with Lebesgue integrable kernels. The isotropic kernels considered in this pape…
We consider population-size-dependent branching processes (PSDBPs) which eventually become extinct with probability one. For these processes, we derive maximum likelihood estimators for the mean number of offspring born to individuals when the current population size is $z\geq 1$. As is standard in branching process theory, an asymptotic analysis of the estimators requires us to condition on non-extinction up to a finite generation $n$ and let $n\to\infty$; however, because the processes become extinct with probability one, we are able to demonstrate that our estimators do not satisfy the clas…
We consider the homogeneous stochastic differential equation with unknown parameter to be estimated. We prove that the standard maximum likelihood estimate is strongly consistent under very mild conditions. There are also established the conditions for strong consistency of the discretized estimator.
The maximum composite likelihood estimator for parametric models of determinantal point processes (DPPs) is discussed. Since the joint intensities of these point processes are given by determinant of positive definite kernels, we have the explicit form of the joint intensities for every order. This fact enables us to consider the generalized maximum composite likelihood estimator for any order. This paper introduces the two step generalized composite likelihood estimator and shows the moment convergence of the estimator under a stationarity. Moreover, our results can yield information criteria…
The asymptotic normality of conditional least squares estimators for the offspring variance in critical branching processes with non-homogeneous immigration is established, under moment assumptions on both reproduction and immigration. The proofs use martingale techniques and weak convergence results in Skorokhod spaces.
The preferential attachment (PA) model is a popular way of modeling dynamic social networks, such as collaboration networks. Assuming that the PA function takes a parametric form, we propose and study the maximum likelihood estimator of the parameter. Using a supercritical continuous-time branching process framework, we prove the almost sure consistency and asymptotic normality of this estimator. We also provide an estimator that only depends on the final snapshot of the network and prove its consistency, and its asymptotic normality under general conditions. We compare the performance of the …
This paper is concerned with the least squares estimator for a basic class of nonlinear autoregressive models, whose outputs are not necessarily to be ergodic. Several asymptotic properties of the least squares estimator have been established under mild conditions. These properties suggest the strong consistency of the least squares estimates in nonlinear autoregressive models which are not divergent.
We introduce a class of unbiased Monte Carlo estimators for the multivariate density of max-stable fields generated by Gaussian processes. Our estimators take advantage of recent results on exact simulation of max-stable fields combined with identities studied in the Malliavin calculus literature and ideas developed in the multilevel Monte Carlo literature. Our approach allows estimating multivariate densities of max-stable fields with precision $\varepsilon $ at a computational cost of order $O\left( \varepsilon ^{-2}\log \log \log \left( 1/\varepsilon \right) \right) $.
We study asymptotic properties of maximum likelihood estimators of drift parameters for a jump-type Heston model based on continuous time observations, where the jump process can be any purely non-Gaussian Lévy process of not necessarily bounded variation with a Lévy measure concentrated on $(-1,\infty)$. We prove strong consistency and asymptotic normality for all admissible parameter values except one, where we show only weak consistency and mixed normal (but non-normal) asymptotic behavior. It turns out that the volatility of the price process is a measurable function of the price process. …
