An Improved Transformation-Based Kernel Estimator of Densities on the Unit Interval

2015
The kernel density estimator (KDE) suffers boundary biases when applied to densities on bounded supports, which are assumed to be the unit interval. Transformations mapping the unit interval to the real line can be used to remove boundary biases. However, this approach may induce erratic tail behaviors when the estimated density of transformed data is transformed back to its original scale. We propose a modified, transformation-based KDE that employs a tapered and tilted back-transformation. We derive the theoretical properties of the new estimator and show that it asymptotically dominates the naive transformation based estimator while maintains its simplicity. We then propose three automatic methods of smoothing parameter selection. Our Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate the good finite sample performance of the proposed estimator, especially for densities with poles near the boundaries. An example with real data is provided.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION
页码:773-783|卷号:110|期号:510
ISSN:0162-1459
收录类型
SSCI
发表日期
2015
学科领域
循证社会科学-方法
国家
中国
语种
英语
DOI
10.1080/01621459.2014.969426
其他关键词
BOUNDARY CORRECTION; END-POINTS; BANDWIDTH SELECTION; BIAS; SIZER
EISSN
1537-274X
资助机构
National Social Science Foundation of China [13ZD148]
资助信息
Mining Wu is also affiliated to the School of Economics, Xiamen University, China. The authors thank the editor and two anonymous referees for constructive comments and suggestions. Wu acknowledges support from the National Social Science Foundation of China (Major Program 13&ZD148).
被引频次(WOS)
6
被引更新日期
2022-01
来源机构
Capital University of Economics & Business Texas A&M University System Texas A&M University College Station Xiamen University
关键词
Bandwidth selection Boundary bias Bounded support Kernel density estimation Transformation