Maximal uniform convergence rates in parametric estimation problems

This paper considers parametric estimation problems with independent, identically,non-regularly distributed data. It focuses on rate-effciency, in the sense of maximal possible convergence rates of stochastically bounded estimators, as an optimality criterion,largely unexplored in parametric estimation.Under mild conditions, the Hellinger metric,defined on the space of parametric probability measures, is shown to be an essentially universally applicable tool to determine maximal possible convergence rates. These rates are shown to be attainable in general classes of parametric estimation problems.

Maximal uniform convergence rates in parametric estimation problems

This paper considers parametric estimation problems with i.i.d. data. It focusses on rate-effciency, in the sense of maximal possible convergence rates of stochastically bounded estimators, as an optimality criterion, largely unexplored in parametric estimation. Under mild conditions, the Hellinger metric, defined on the space of parametric probability measures, is shown to be an essentially universally applicable tool to determine maximal possible convergence rates.parametric estimators, uniform convergence, Hellinger distance, Locally Asymptotically Quadratic (LAQ) Families

Consumer-Directed Health Care: Can Consumers Look After Themselves?

In health care systems today, including those of Switzerland and the United States, participants do not necessarily see the big picture of lifetime health costs and quality of life, and in many systems consumers and providers lack the incentives to manage preventative and chronic care to minimize lifetime private and social health costs. Resource allocation problems induced by asymmetric information and misaligned incentives are exacerbated if consumers fail to have the acuity or perspective needed to make choices consistent with their self-interest when faced with complex health care choices with ambiguous future consequences. This paper examines rationality of consumers’ health perceptions and choices using as a natural experiment the recent introduction in the United States of a highly subsidized market for prescription drug insurance, and draws lessons from this experiment on the practicality of “Consumer Directed Health Care” as an approach to achieving efficient allocation of health care resources by confronting consumers with the full marginal costs of the services they use

The Impact of Demographics on Housing and Non-Housing Wealth in the United States

Equity in housing is a major component of household wealth in the United States. Steady gains in housing prices over the last several decades have generated large potential gains in household wealth among homeowners. Mankiw and Weil (1989) and McFadden (1993b) have argued that the aging of the US population is likely to induce substantial declines in housing prices, resulting in capital losses for future elderly generations. However, if households can anticipate changes in housing prices, and if they adjust their non-housing savings accordingly, then welfare losses in retirement could be mitigated. This paper focuses on two questions: (1) Are housing prices forecastable from current information on demographics and housing prices?; and (2) How are household savings decisions affected by capital gains in housing? We use metropolitan statistical area (MSA) level data on housing prices and demographic trends during the 1980's and find mixed evidence on the forecastability of housing prices. Further, we use data on five-year savings rates from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and find no evidence that households engage in changing their non-housing savings in response to expectations about capital gains in housing. Thus, the projected decline in housing prices could result in large welfare losses to current homeowners and large intergenerational equity differences.

A First Amendment Analysis of Military Regulations Restricting the Wearing of Military Uniforms by Members of the Individual Ready Reserve Who Participate in Politically Themed Theatrical Productions

Adam Kokesh, a veteran of the Iraq War and a member of the Individual Ready Reserve, performed a public reenactment of combat in Iraq while wearing elements of his military uniform. Although federal statutes permit the wearing of a military uniform during such expression, the United States Marine Corps punished Kokesh based on his violation of military regulations. This Note explains that Kokesh\u27s experience is representative of a policy by which the uniform-related expression of members of the Individual Ready Reserve has been restricted to a greater degree than that of the general public. After examining three available First Amendment standards by which this additional restriction might be evaluated, this Note concludes that the most appropriate standard is the standard for the regulation of expressive conduct and that the imposition of this additional restriction on the uniform-related expression of members of the Individual Ready Reserve fails to satisfy that standard