136
Views
3
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Stabilizing the Performance of Kurtosis Estimator of Multivariate Data

, &
Pages 1860-1871 | Received 23 Dec 2010, Accepted 08 Sep 2011, Published online: 13 Jun 2012
 

Abstract

The estimation of the kurtosis parameter of the underlying distribution plays a central role in many statistical applications. The central theme of the article is to improve the estimation of the kurtosis parameter using a priori information. More specifically, we consider the problem of estimating kurtosis parameter of a multivariate population when some prior information regarding the the parameter is available. The rationale is that the sample estimator of the kurtosis parameter has a large estimation error. In this situation we consider shrinkage and pretest estimation methodologies and reappraise their statistical properties. The estimation based on these strategies yield relatively smaller estimation error in comparison with the sample estimator in the candidate subspace. A large sample theory of the suggested estimators are developed and compared. The results demonstrate that suggested estimators outperform the estimator based on the sample data only in the candidate subspace. In an effort to appreciate the relative behavior of the estimators in a finite sample scenario, a Monte-carlo simulation study is planned and performed. The result of simulation study strongly corroborates the asymptotic result. To illustrate the application of the estimators, some example are showcased based on recently published data.

Acknowledgments

The research work of Professor Ahmed is supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada and a part of this investigation was conducted while he was visiting the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, KSA. Professors Joarder and Omar would also like to express gratitude to KFUPM for providing facilities for this research.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.