Gini Covariance Matrix and its Affine Equivariant Version

Gini\u27s mean difference (GMD) and its derivatives such as Gini index have been widely used as alternative measures of variability over one century in many research fields especially in finance, economics and social welfare. In this dissertation, we generalize the univariate GMD to the multivariate case and propose a new covariance matrix so called the Gini covariance matrix (GCM). The extension is natural, which is based on the covariance representation of GMD with the notion of multivariate spatial rank function. In order to gain the affine equivariance property for GCM, we utilize the transformation-retransformation (TR) technique and obtain TR version GCM that turns out to be a symmetrized M-functional. Indeed, both GCMs are symmetrized approaches based on the difference of two independent variables without reference of a location, hence avoiding some arbitrary definition of location for non-symmetric distributions. We study the properties of both GCMs. They possess the so-called independence property, which is highly important, for example, in independent component analysis. Influence functions of two GCMs are derived to assess their robustness. They are found to be more robust than the regular covariance matrix but less robust than Tyler and Dümbgen M-functional. Under elliptical distributions, the relationship between the scatter parameter and the two GCM are obtained. With this relationship, principal component analysis (PCA) based on GCM is possible. Estimation of two GCMs is presented. We study asymptotical behavior of the estimators. √n-consistency and asymptotical normality of estimators are established. Asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) of TR-GCM estimator with respect to sample covariance matrix is compared to that of Tyler and Dümbgen M-estimators. With little loss on efficiency (\u3c 2%) in the normal case, it gains high efficiency for heavy-tailed distributions. Finite sample behavior of Gini estimators is explored under various models using two criteria. As a by-product, a closely related scatter Kotz functional and its estimator are also studied. The proposed Gini covariance balances well between efficiency and robustness. In applications, we implement the Gini-based PCA to two real data sets from UCI machine learning repository. Relying on some graphical and numerical summaries, Gini-based PCA demonstrates its competitive performance

Robust and Sparse M-Estimation of DOA

A robust and sparse Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimator is derived for array data that follows a Complex Elliptically Symmetric (CES) distribution with zero-mean and finite second-order moments. The derivation allows to choose the loss function and four loss functions are discussed in detail: the Gauss loss which is the Maximum-Likelihood (ML) loss for the circularly symmetric complex Gaussian distribution, the ML-loss for the complex multivariate $t$-distribution (MVT) with $\nu$ degrees of freedom, as well as Huber and Tyler loss functions. For Gauss loss, the method reduces to Sparse Bayesian Learning (SBL). The root mean square DOA error of the derived estimators is discussed for Gaussian, MVT, and $\epsilon$-contaminated data. The robust SBL estimators perform well for all cases and nearly identical with classical SBL for Gaussian noise

AN EXHAUSTIVE COEFFICIENT OF RANK CORRELATION

Rank association is a fundamental tool for expressing dependence in cases in which data are arranged in order. Measures of rank correlation have been accumulated in several contexts for more than a century and we were able to cite more than thirty of these coefficients, from simple ones to relatively complicated definitions invoking one or more systems of weights. However, only a few of these can actually be considered to be admissible substitutes for Pearson’s correlation. The main drawback with the vast majority of coefficients is their “resistance-tochange” which appears to be of limited value for the purposes of rank comparisons that are intrinsically robust. In this article, a new nonparametric correlation coefficient is defined that is based on the principle of maximization of a ratio of two ranks. In comparing it with existing rank correlations, it was found to have extremely high sensitivity to permutation patterns. We have illustrated the potential improvement that our index can provide in economic contexts by comparing published results with those obtained through the use of this new index. The success that we have had suggests that our index may have important applications wherever the discriminatory power of the rank correlation coefficient should be particularly strong.Ordinal data, Nonparametric agreement, Economic applications

Robust Multiple Signal Classification via Probability Measure Transformation

In this paper, we introduce a new framework for robust multiple signal classification (MUSIC). The proposed framework, called robust measure-transformed (MT) MUSIC, is based on applying a transform to the probability distribution of the received signals, i.e., transformation of the probability measure defined on the observation space. In robust MT-MUSIC, the sample covariance is replaced by the empirical MT-covariance. By judicious choice of the transform we show that: 1) the resulting empirical MT-covariance is B-robust, with bounded influence function that takes negligible values for large norm outliers, and 2) under the assumption of spherically contoured noise distribution, the noise subspace can be determined from the eigendecomposition of the MT-covariance. Furthermore, we derive a new robust measure-transformed minimum description length (MDL) criterion for estimating the number of signals, and extend the MT-MUSIC framework to the case of coherent signals. The proposed approach is illustrated in simulation examples that show its advantages as compared to other robust MUSIC and MDL generalizations

Set identified linear models

We analyze the identification and estimation of parameters β satisfying the incomplete linear moment restrictions E(z T (x β−y)) = E(z Tu(z)) where z is a set of instruments and u(z) an unknown bounded scalar function. We first provide empirically relevant examples of such a set-up. Second, we show that these conditions set identify β where the identified set B is bounded and convex. We provide a sharp characterization of the identified set not only when the number of moment conditions is equal to the number of parameters of interest but also in the case in which the number of conditions is strictly larger than the number of parameters. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition of the validity of supernumerary restrictions which generalizes the familiar Sargan condition. Third, we provide new results on the asymptotics of analog estimates constructed from the identification results. When B is a strictly convex set, we also construct a test of the null hypothesis, β 0 ε B, whose size is asymptotically correct and which relies on the minimization of the support function of the set B − { β 0 }. Results of some Monte Carlo experiments are presented.