Conditional stochastic dominance testing

This article proposes bootstrap-based stochastic dominance tests for nonparametric conditional distributions and their moments. We exploit the fact that a conditional distribution dominates the other if and only if the difference between the marginal joint distributions is monotonic in the explanatory variable for each value of the dependent variable. The proposed test statistic compares restricted and unrestricted estimators of the difference between the joint distributions, and can be implemented under minimal smoothness requirements on the underlying nonparametric curves and without resorting to smooth estimation. The finite sample properties of the proposed tests are examined by means of a Monte Carlo study. We report an application to studying the impact on post-intervention earnings of the National Supported Work Demonstration, a randomized labor training program carried out in the 1970s.Nonparametric testing, Conditional stochastic dominance, Conditional inequality restrictions, Least concave majorant, Treatment effects

Scalable Bayesian nonparametric regression via a Plackett-Luce model for conditional ranks

We present a novel Bayesian nonparametric regression model for covariates X and continuous, real response variable Y. The model is parametrized in terms of marginal distributions for Y and X and a regression function which tunes the stochastic ordering of the conditional distributions F(y|x). By adopting an approximate composite likelihood approach, we show that the resulting posterior inference can be decoupled for the separate components of the model. This procedure can scale to very large datasets and allows for the use of standard, existing, software from Bayesian nonparametric density estimation and Plackett-Luce ranking estimation to be applied. As an illustration, we show an application of our approach to a US Census dataset, with over 1,300,000 data points and more than 100 covariates

NONPARAMETRIC IDENTIFICATION AND ESTIMATION OF STOCHASTIC FRONTIER MODELS

This dissertation studies nonparametric identication and estimation of stochastic frontiermodels. It is composed of three chapters. The rst chapter investigates the identication and estimation of a cross sectional stochastic frontier model with Laplacian errors and unknown variance, which is built on a nonparametric density deconvolution strategy. Chapter two studies a zero-ineciency stochastic frontier model utilizing a penalized sieve estimator, which allows flexible function forms and arbitrary distributions of ineciency. The third chapter explores identication and estimation of a nonparametric panel stochastic frontier model based on Kotlarski\u27s Lemma and moments derived from conditional characteristic functions

Estimation in semiparametric spatial regression

Nonparametric methods have been very popular in the last couple of decades in time series and regression, but no such development has taken place for spatial models. A rather obvious reason for this is the curse of dimensionality. For spatial data on a grid evaluating the conditional mean given its closest neighbors requires a four-dimensional nonparametric regression. In this paper a semiparametric spatial regression approach is proposed to avoid this problem. An estimation procedure based on combining the so-called marginal integration technique with local linear kernel estimation is developed in the semiparametric spatial regression setting. Asymptotic distributions are established under some mild conditions. The same convergence rates as in the one-dimensional regression case are established. An application of the methodology to the classical Mercer and Hall wheat data set is given and indicates that one directional component appears to be nonlinear, which has gone unnoticed in earlier analyses.Additive approximation; asymptotic theory; conditional autoregression; local linear kernel estimate; marginal integration; semiparametric regression; spatial mixing process

Conditional stochastic dominance testing

This article proposes bootstrap-based stochastic dominance tests for nonparametric conditional distributions and their moments. We exploit the fact that a conditional distribution dominates the other if and only if the difference between the marginal joint distributions is monotonic in the explanatory variable for each value of the dependent variable. The proposed test statistic compares restricted and unrestricted estimators of the difference between the joint distributions, and can be implemented under minimal smoothness requirements on the underlying nonparametric curves and without resorting to smooth estimation. The finite sample properties of the proposed tests are examined by means of a Monte Carlo study. We report an application to studying the impact on post-intervention earnings of the National Supported Work Demonstration, a randomized labor training program carried out in the 1970s