Maxbias curves of robust location estimators based on subranges.

A maxbias curve is a powerful tool to describe the robustness of an estimator. It tells us how much an estimator can change due to a given fraction of contamination. In this paper, maxbias curves are computed for some univariate location estimators based on subranges: midranges, trimmed means and the univariate Minimum Volume Ellipsoid (MVE) location estimators. These estimators are intuitively appealing and easy to calculate.Breakdown value; Location estimator; Maxbias curve; Robustness;

The breakdown behavior of the maximum likelihood estimator in the logistic regression model.

In this note we discuss the breakdown behavior of the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator in the logistic regression model. We formally prove that the ML-estimator never explodes to infinity, but rather breaks down to zero when adding severe outliers to a data set. An example confirms this behavior. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.breakdown point; logistic regression; maximum likelihood; robust estimation; generalized linear-models; robustness; existence; fits;

Logistic discrimination using robust estimators: An influence function approach.

Discrimination; Estimator; Influence function;

The breakdown behavior of the maximum likelihood estimator in the logistic regression model.

Abstract: In this note we discuss the breakdown behavior of the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimator in the logistic regression model. We formally prove that the ML-estimator never explodes to infinity, but rather breaks down to zero when adding severe outliers to a data set. Numerical experiments confirm this behavior. As a more robust alternative, a Weighted Maximum Likelihood (WML) estimator will be considered.Model; Data;

Robust estimation for ordinal regression.

Ordinal regression is used for modelling an ordinal response variable as a function of some explanatory variables. The classical technique for estimating the unknown parameters of this model is Maximum Likelihood (ML). The lack of robustness of this estimator is formally shown by deriving its breakdown point and its influence function. To robustify the procedure, a weighting step is added to the Maximum Likelihood estimator, yielding an estimator with bounded influence function. We also show that the loss in efficiency due to the weighting step remains limited. A diagnostic plot based on the Weighted Maximum Likelihood estimator allows to detect outliers of different types in a single plot.Breakdown point; Diagnostic plot; Influence function; Ordinal regression; Weighted maximum likelihood; Robust distances;

Location adjustment for the minimum volume ellipsoid estimator.

Estimating multivariate location and scatter with both affine equivariance and positive breakdown has always been difficult. A well-known estimator which satisfies both properties is the Minimum Volume Ellipsoid Estimator (MVE). Computing the exact MVE is often not feasible, so one usually resorts to an approximate algorithm. In the regression setup, algorithms for positive-breakdown estimators like Least Median of Squares typically recompute the intercept at each step, to improve the result. This approach is called intercept adjustment. In this paper we show that a similar technique, called location adjustment, can be applied to the MVE. For this purpose we use the Minimum Volume Ball (MVB), in order to lower the MVE objective function. An exact algorithm for calculating the MVB is presented. As an alternative to MVB location adjustment we propose L-1 location adjustment, which does not necessarily lower the MVE objective function but yields more efficient estimates for the location part. Simulations compare the two types of location adjustment. We also obtain the maxbias curves of both L-1 and the MVB in the multivariate setting, revealing the superiority of L-1.Model;

Principal component analysis based on robust estimators of the covariance or correlation matrix: Influence functions and efficiencies.

A robust principal component analysis can be easily performed by computing the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a robust estimator of the covariance or correlation matrix. In this paper we derive the influence functions and the corresponding asymptotic variances for these robust estimators of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The behaviour of several of these estimators is investigated by a simulation study. It turns out that the theoretical results and simulations favour the use of S-estimators, since they combine a high efficiency with appealing robustness properties.influence function; principal component analysis; robust correlation matrix; robust estimation; multivariate location; dispersion matrices;

Influence function and efficiency of the minimum covariance determinant scatter matrix estimator.

The minimum covariance determinant (MCD) scatter estimator is a highly robust estimator for the dispersion matrix of a multivariate, elliptically symmetric distribution. It is relatively fast to compute and intuitively appealing. In this note we derive its influence function and compute the asymptotic variances of its elements. A comparison with the one step reweighted MCD and with S-estimators is made. Also finite-sample results are reported. (C) 1999 Academic Press AMS 1991 subject classifications: 62F35, 62G35.influence function; minimum covariance determinant estimator; robust estimation; scatter matrix; volume ellipsoid estimator; multivariate location; s-estimators; asymptotics;