Abstract
We, in this paper, apply the smoothed and maximum empirical likelihood (EL) methods to construct the confidence intervals of the conditional quantile difference with left-truncated data. In particular, we prove the smoothed empirical log-likelihood ratio of the conditional quantile difference is asymptotically chi-squared when the observations with multivariate covariates form a stationary \(\alpha\)-mixing sequence. At the same time, we establish the asymptotic normality of the maximum EL estimator for the conditional quantile difference. A simulation study is conducted to investigate the finite sample behavior of the proposed methods and a real data application is provided.
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This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11671299).
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Appendix
Appendix
1.1 Some preliminary lemmas
In this subsection, we give some preliminary lemmas, which are used to prove the main results. Let \(\{Z_i, i\ge 1\}\) be a sequence of \(\alpha\)-mixing real random variables with the mixing coefficients \(\{\alpha (k)\}\).
Lemma 6.1.1
[Liebscher (1996), Lemma 2.3] Assume \(\alpha (k)\le C_1k^{-r}\), for some \(r>1\), \(C_1>0\). Let \(\sup _{1\le i,j\le n,i\ne j}\left| Cov(Z_i,Z_j)\right| :=R^*(n)<+\infty\) be satisfied. Moreover, let \(R_m(n)<+\infty\) for some m, \(2r/(r-1)<m\le +\infty\), where \(R_m(n)=\sup _{1\le i\le n}\left( E|Z_i|^m\right) ^{1/m}\), for \(1\le m<+\infty\), and \(R_{\infty }(n)=\sup _{1\le i\le n}\mathrm{esssup}_{w\in \Omega }|Z_i|\) (esssup stands for the essential supremum). Then \(\mathrm{Var}\big (\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nZ_i\big )\le n\left\{ C_2(r,m)(R_m(n))^{2m/(r(m-2))}(R^*(n))^{1-m/(r(m-2))}+R_2^2(n)\right\}\) holds with \(C_2(r,m):=\frac{20r-40r/m}{r-1-2r/m}C_1^{1/r}\).
Lemma 6.1.2
[Liebscher (2001), Proposition 5.1] Assume \(EZ_i=0\), \(|Z_i|\le S\,a.s.\,(i=1,2,\dots ,n)\). Set \(D_N=\max _{1\le j\le 2N}Var\big (\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^jZ_i\big )\). Then for n, N, \(0<N<\frac{n}{2}\), \(\varepsilon >0\), we have \(P\big (\big |\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nZ_i\big |>\varepsilon \big )\le 4 \exp \big \{-\frac{\varepsilon ^2}{16}(nN^{-1} D_N+\frac{1}{3}\varepsilon S N)^{-1}\big \}+32\frac{S}{\varepsilon } n\alpha (N).\)
Lemma 6.1.3
[Volkonskii and Rozanov (1959)] Let \(V_1,\ldots , V_m\) be \(\alpha\)-mixing random variables measurable with respect to the \(\sigma\)-algebra \(\mathcal{F}^{j_1}_{i_1}, \ldots , {{\mathcal {F}}}^{j_m}_{i_m}\), respectively, with \(1\le i_1<j_1<\cdots <j_m\le n,\, i_{l+1}-j_l\ge w\ge 1\) and \(|V_j|\le 1\) for \(l, j=1, 2, \ldots , m\). Then \(|E(\prod ^m_{j=1}V_j)-\prod ^m_{j=1}EV_j|\le 16(m-1)\alpha (w),\) where \({{\mathcal {F}}}^b_a=\sigma \{V_i, a\le i\le b\}\) and \(\alpha (w)\) is the mixing coefficient.
Lemma 6.1.4
[Hall and Heyde (1980), Corollary A.2] Suppose that X and Y are random variables such that \(E|X|^p<\infty\), \(E|Y|^q<\infty\), where p, \(q>1\), \(p^{-1}+q^{-1}<1\), then \(|EXY-EXEY|\le 8\Vert X\Vert _p\Vert Y\Vert _q\big \{\sup \limits _{A\in \sigma (X),B\in \sigma (Y)}|P(A\cap B)-P(A)P(B)|\big \}^{1-p^{-1}-q^{-1}}.\)
Lemma 6.1.5
Suppose that \(\alpha (n)=O(n^{-\gamma })\) for some \(\gamma >3\). Then under (A1) we have \(\sup _{y\ge a_{{\widetilde{F}}}}|G_n(y)-G(y)|=O_p(n^{-1/2})\), \(\sup _{y\ge a_{{\widetilde{F}}}}|G_n(y)-G(y)|=O_{a.s.}((\ln \ln n/n)^{1/2})\).
Proof
The first conclusion from Lemma 5.4 in Liang et al. (2011), the second claim can be proved by using similar method in Lemma 5.4 in Liang et al. (2011).
1.2 Some lemmas and proofs
In this subsection, let \(\delta _n=(nh_n^d)^{-\tau }\) with \(1/3<\tau <1/2\).
Lemma 6.2.1
Let (A1)-(A5),(A7) hold. Then for each \(\xi\) satisfying \(|\xi -\xi _p|\le \delta _n\), we have
and \(\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}\mathrm{Cov}\left( W_{1i}(\xi ),W_{2i}(\xi ,\theta _0)\right) =\sigma _{12}+O(h_n+a_n)\).
Proof
We prove only the results related to \(W_{1i}(\xi )\), the proofs of the other results are similar.
-
(a)
In view of (A2)–(A5), from (2.1), it follows that
$$\begin{aligned}&\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}EW_{1i}(\xi )\\&\quad =\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}E\Big \{K\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )G^{-1}(Y_i)\Big [\Lambda \Big (\frac{\xi -Y_i}{a_n}\Big )-p\Big ]\Big \}\\&\quad =\int _{{\mathbb {R}}^d}K(\mathbf{s})l(\mathbf{x}-h_n\mathbf{s})F(\xi |\mathbf{x}-h_n\mathbf{s})d\mathbf{s}-F(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})\int _{{\mathbb {R}}^d}K(\mathbf{s})l(\mathbf{x}-h_n\mathbf{s})d\mathbf{s}+O(a_n^{r_1})\\&\quad =l(\mathbf{x})[F(\xi |\mathbf{x})-F(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})]+O(h_n^{r_0}+a_n^{r_1}). \end{aligned}$$ -
(b)
Applying (A1)–(A5) and \(\delta _n/a_n\rightarrow 0\), from (2.1) we have
$$\begin{aligned}\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}EW_{1i}^2(\xi )&=\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}E\Big \{K^2\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )G^{-2}(Y_i)\Big [\Lambda \Big (\frac{\xi -Y_i}{a_n}\Big )-p\Big ]^2\Big \}\\&=\left\{ (1-2p){\mathbb {E}}\left[ G^{-1}(Y)I(Y\le \xi _p)|\mathbf{X}=\mathbf{x}\right] \right. \\&\left. \quad +p^2{\mathbb {E}}[G^{-1}(Y)|\mathbf{X}=\mathbf{x}]\right\} l(\mathbf{x})\int _{{\mathbb {R}}^d}K^2(\mathbf{s})d\mathbf{s}+O(h_n+a_n)\\&=\sigma _{11}+O(h_n+a_n). \end{aligned}$$Clearly, (a) gives \(\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}(EW_{1i}(\xi ))^2=\frac{h_n^d}{\mu }(\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}EW_{1i}(\xi ))^2=o(h_n+a_n)\), which, together with (b), yields that \(\frac{\mu }{h_n^d}\mathrm{Var}(W_{1i}(\xi ))=\sigma _{11}+O(h_n+a_n).\)
\(\square\)
Lemma 6.2.2
Let \(\alpha (n)=O(n^{-\lambda })\) for some \(\lambda \ge 4\). If (A1)–(A7) hold, then uniformly for \(\xi\) satisfying \(|\xi -\xi _p|\le \delta _n\), we have
-
(1)
-
(i)
\(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}(\xi )=O_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\), (ii) \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}(\xi _p)=o_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\),
-
(iii)
\(c_1\delta _n\le \big |\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}(\xi _p\pm \delta _n)\big |\le c_2\delta _n\,a.s.\);
-
(i)
-
(2)
-
(i)
\(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{2ni}(\xi ,\theta _0)=O_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\), (ii) \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{2ni}(\xi _p,\theta _0)=o_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\),
-
(iii)
\(c_1\delta _n\le \big |\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{2ni}(\xi _p\pm \delta _n,\theta _0)\big |\le c_2\delta _n\,a.s.\);
-
(i)
-
(3)
-
(i)
\(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}^2(\xi )=\sigma _{11}+O_{a.s.}(h_n+a_n)\),
-
(ii)
\(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{2ni}^2(\xi ,\theta _0)=\sigma _{22}+O_{a.s.}(h_n+a_n)\),
-
(iii)
\(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}(\xi )W_{2ni}(\xi ,\theta _0)=\sigma _{12}+O_{a.s.}(h_n+a_n)\).
-
(i)
Proof
Here, we give only the proofs (i) in (1) and (3), respectively, other results can be proved similarly.
-
(a)
We write
$$\begin{aligned}&\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}(\xi )\\&\quad =\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nK\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )\Big [\Lambda \Big (\frac{\xi -Y_i}{a_n}\Big )-p\Big ]\frac{1}{G(Y_i)}\\&\qquad +\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nK\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )\Big [\Lambda \Big (\frac{\xi -Y_i}{a_n}\Big )-p\Big ]\frac{G(Y_i)-G_n(Y_i)}{G(Y_i)G_n(Y_i)} :=A_n+B_n. \end{aligned}$$In view of Lemma 6.1.5, we find \(|B_n| =O_{a.s.}\Big (\sqrt{\frac{\ln \ln n}{n}}\Big )\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nK\big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\big )G^{-1}(Y_i).\) Using the Taylor expansion, we have
$$\begin{aligned} A_n&=\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nK\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )G^{-1}(Y_i)\Big [\Lambda \Big (\frac{\xi _p-Y_i}{a_n}\Big )-p\Big ]\\&\quad +\frac{(\xi -\xi _p)\mu }{nh_n^da_n}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nK\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )G^{-1}(Y_i)w\Big (\frac{\xi ^*-Y_i}{a_n}\Big ), \end{aligned}$$where \(\xi ^*\) is between \(\xi\) and \(\xi _p\). To prove (i) in (1), it suffices to show that
$$\begin{aligned}&\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nK\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )G^{-1}(Y_i)\Big [\Lambda \Big (\frac{\xi _p-Y_i}{a_n}\Big )-p\Big ]=o_{a.s.}(\delta _n), \end{aligned}$$(6.1)\(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^da_n}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nK\big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\big )G^{-1}(Y_i)w\big (\frac{\xi ^*-Y_i}{a_n}\big )\xrightarrow {a.s.} l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})\) and \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nK\big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\big )G^{-1}(Y_i)\xrightarrow {a.s.} l(\mathbf{x}).\) Next we only prove (6.1), the proofs of the others are similar. Applying Lemma 6.2.1, we can verify \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nEK\big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\big )G^{-1}(Y_i)\big [\Lambda \big (\frac{\xi _p-Y_i}{a_n}\big )-p\big ]=O(h_n^{r_0}+a_n^{r_1})=o(\delta _n)\) by (A7). Hence, it is sufficient to show that
$$\begin{aligned}&\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^n\Big [W_{1i}(\xi _p)-EW_{1i}(\xi _p)\Big ]=O\Bigg (\sqrt{\frac{\ln n}{nh_n^d}}\Bigg )\, a.s. \end{aligned}$$(6.2)Set \(\beta _i=W_{1i}(\xi _p)-EW_{1i}(\xi _p).\) It is easy to verify that for any \(1\le j\le 2m\le \infty\),
$$\begin{aligned} R^*(j):=\max _{1\le i_1,i_2\le j,i_1\ne i_2}|\mathrm{Cov}(\beta _{i_1},\beta _{i_2})|=O(h_n^{2d}),\, R_2^2(j):=\max _{1\le i\le j}E\beta _i^2=O(h_n^d) \end{aligned}$$and \(R_{\infty }(j):=\max _{1\le i\le j}esssup_{w\in \Omega }|\beta _i|\le C.\) Hence, by Lemma 6.1.1 (taking \(m=+\infty\)), we have \(D_m=\max _{1\le j\le 2m} \mathrm{Var}(\sum _{i=1}^{j}\beta _i)=O(mh_n^d).\) So, in the view of Lemma 6.1.2 and taking \(m=[(nh_n^d/\ln n)^{1/2}],\) then for sufficiently large \(\varepsilon _0>0\), it follows that
$$\begin{aligned}&P\Big (\Big |\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^n\Big [W_{1i}(\xi _p)-EW_{1i}(\xi _p)\Big ]\Big |\\&\quad \ge \varepsilon _0 (\ln n/nh_n^d)^{1/2}\Big ) \le \frac{C}{n^2}+\frac{C}{h_n^d}(\ln n/nh_n^d)^{(\lambda -1)/2}, \end{aligned}$$which yields (6.2) by using Borel-Cantelli lemma under condition (A7). Therefore, (i) in (1) is proved.
-
(b)
Note that
$$\begin{aligned}&\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}^2(\xi )\\&\quad =\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi )+\frac{2\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi )\frac{G(Y_i)-G_n(Y_i)}{G_n(Y_i)}\\&\qquad +\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi )\left( \frac{G(Y_i)-G_n(Y_i)}{G_n(Y_i)}\right) ^2 :=\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi )+I_1+I_2. \end{aligned}$$Moreover,
$$\begin{aligned}\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi )&=\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi _p)+\frac{2(\xi -\xi _p)\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}(\xi ^{**})W'_{1i}(\xi ^{**})\\& =\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi _p)+\frac{2(\xi -\xi _p)\mu }{nh_n^da_n}\sum _{i=1}^{n}K^2\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\Big )\\&\qquad G^{-2}(Y_i)\Big [\Lambda \Big (\frac{\xi ^{**}-Y_i}{a_n}\Big )-p\Big ]w\Big (\frac{\xi ^{**}-Y_i}{a_n}\Big ), \end{aligned}$$where \(\xi ^{**}\) is between \(\xi\) and \(\xi _p\). Similarly to the proof in Lemma 6.2.1, and (6.2), one can deduce \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi _p)=\sigma _{11}+O_{a.s.}(h_n+a_n)\) and \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^da_n}\sum _{i=1}^{n}K^2\Big (\frac{\mathbf{x}-\mathbf{X}_i}{h_n}\big )G^{-2}(Y_i)\big [\Lambda \big (\frac{\xi ^{**}-Y_i}{a_n}\big )-p\big ]w\big (\frac{\xi ^{**}-Y_i}{a_n}\big )=O(1)\,a.s.\) Thus \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1i}^2(\xi )=\sigma _{11}+O_{a.s.}(a_n+h_n).\) On the other hand, \(I_1=O\Big (\sqrt{\frac{\ln \ln n}{n}}\Big )=o(a_n)\,a.s., I_2=o(a_n)\,a.s.\) by using Lemma 6.1.5. Therefore, (i) in (3) is proved.
\(\square\)
Lemma 6.2.3
Let \(\alpha (n)=O(n^{-\lambda })\) for some \(\lambda \ge 4\). Under (A1)-(A7) and (A9), we have \(\lambda _1(\xi ,\theta _0)=O_{a.s.}(\delta _n),\,\lambda _2(\xi ,\theta _0)=O_{a.s}(\delta _n)\) uniformly over \(\{\xi : |\xi -\xi _p|\le \delta _n\}\). Furthermore, \(\lambda _1(\xi _p,\theta _0)=o_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\), \(c_1\delta _n\le |\lambda _1(\xi _p\pm \delta _n,\theta _0)|\le c_2\delta _n\,a.s.;\) \(\lambda _2(\xi _p,\theta _0)=o_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\), \(c_1\delta _n\le |\lambda _2(\xi _p\pm \delta _n,\theta _0)|\le c_2\delta _n\,a.s.\)
Proof
Set \(\lambda (\xi ,\theta _0)=\Vert \lambda (\xi ,\theta _0)\Vert \eta\). When \(\theta =\theta _0\), \(\lambda (\xi ,\theta _0)\) is the solution of (2.5) and (2.6), then
From (3) in Lemma 6.2.2 we find \(\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\xi ,\theta _0)W^{\mathrm T}_{ni}(\xi ,\theta _0)\xrightarrow {a.s.} \Bigg (\begin{array}{cc} \sigma _{11}&{}\sigma _{12}\\ \sigma _{12}&{}\sigma _{22} \end{array} \Bigg ).\) (A9) implies that for sufficiently large n, \(\eta ^{\mathrm T}\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\xi ,\theta _0) W_{ni}^{\mathrm T}(\xi ,\theta _0)\eta \ge c>0\). In addition, from \(\max _{1\le i\le n}|W_{1i}(\xi )|\le C\) and Lemma 6.1.5, we have \(\max _{1\le i\le n}|W_{1ni}(\xi )|\le C,\,a.s.\) and \(\max _{1\le i\le n}|W_{2ni}(\xi ,\theta _0)|\le C,\,a.s.,\) which yield that \(\max _{1\le i\le n}|\eta ^{\mathrm T}W_{ni}(\xi ,\theta _0)|\le C,\,a.s.\) Thus, from Lemma 6.2.2 we have
and \(\Vert \lambda (\xi ,\theta _0)\Vert =O_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\). Therefore \(\lambda _1(\xi ,\theta _0)=O_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\), \(\lambda _2(\xi ,\theta _0)=O_{a.s.}(\delta _n).\)
Similarly, one can verify the results on \(\lambda _{1}(\xi _p,\theta _0)\), \(\lambda _{2}(\xi _p,\theta _0)\), \(\lambda _{1}(\xi _p\pm \delta _n,\theta _0)\) and \(\lambda _{2}(\xi _p\pm \delta _n,\theta _0)\). \(\square\)
Lemma 6.2.4
Let \(\alpha (n)=O(n^{-\lambda })\) with \(\lambda \ge 4\). Assume (A1)-(A7) and (A9) in Section 3 hold, then there exists a point \(\widehat{\xi }\) in the interior of \(\{\xi :\,|\xi -\xi _p|\le \delta _n\}\), which maximizes \(R(\xi ,\theta _0)\) and satisfies the Eqs. (2.7)–(2.9).
Proof
To prove this conclusion, it is equivalent to proving that there exists a point \(\widehat{\xi }\) in the interior of \(\{\xi :\,|\xi -\xi _p|\le \delta _n\}\), which minimizes \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi )\) and satisfies the Eqs. (2.7)–(2.9), where \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi )=\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^n \log {\big [1+\lambda _1}W_{1ni}(\xi )+\lambda _2W_{2ni}(\xi ,\theta _0)\big ]\).
Put \(\xi _1=\xi _p+\delta _n\) and according to (2.5)-(2.6), \(\lambda (\xi _1,\theta _0)\) is the solution of \(\mathbf{0}=\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^n\frac{W_{ni}(\xi _1,\theta _0)}{1+\lambda ^{\mathrm T}W_{ni}(\xi _1,\theta _0)}\), which can be rewritten as
Using Lemmas 6.2.3 and 6.1.5, from (A1), it follows that
Set \(S_n(\xi _1,\theta _0)=\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\xi _1,\theta _0)W_{ni}^{\mathrm T}(\xi _1,\theta _0)\). Then \(\lambda (\xi _1,\theta _0)=S_n^{-1}(\xi _1,\theta _0)\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\xi _1,\theta _0)+O_{a.s.}(\delta _n^2)\). Applying the Taylor expansion for \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi _1)\) we have
where \(\zeta _i\) is between 0 and \(\lambda _1(\xi _1,\theta _0)W_{1ni}(\xi _1)+\lambda _2(\xi _1,\theta _0)W_{2ni}(\xi _1,\theta _0)\). Note that \(\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^n[\lambda _1(\xi _1,\theta _0)W_{1ni}(\xi _1)+\lambda _2(\xi _1,\theta _0)W_{2ni}(\xi _1,\theta _0)]^3/(1+\zeta _i)^3 = O_{a.s.}(nh_n^d\delta _n^3).\) Therefore, from Lemma 6.2.2, we can deduce
On applying Lemma 6.2.2 we have \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi _p)= o(nh_n^d\delta _n^2)\), so \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi _p+\delta _n)>l_{\theta _0}(\xi _p).\,\)Similarly, \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi _p-\delta _n)>l_{\theta _0}(\xi _p).\)
Since \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi )\) is a continuously differentiable function of \(\xi\), \(l_{\theta _0}(\xi )\) attains its minimum in \((\xi _p-\delta _n,\xi _p+\delta _n)\), say \(\widehat{\xi }\), and \(\widehat{\xi },\) \(\widehat{\lambda }_1,\) \(\widehat{\lambda }_2\) satisfy Eqs. (2.7)–(2.9). \(\square\)
Lemma 6.2.5
Let \(\alpha (n)=O(n^{-\lambda })\) with \(\lambda \ge 4\). If (A1)-(A7) and (A9) in Section 3 hold, then for sufficiently large n, \(l(\Theta )\) attains its minimum value at some point \({\widetilde{\Theta }}\) in the interior of \(\{\Theta :\,\Vert \Theta -\Theta _0\Vert \le \delta _n\}\) in probability 1, and \({\widetilde{\Theta }}\) , \({\widetilde{\lambda }}=\lambda ({\widetilde{\Theta }})\) satisfy \(Q_{4n}({\widetilde{\Theta }},{\widetilde{\lambda }})=\mathbf{0}\) and \(Q_{5n}({\widetilde{\Theta }},{\widetilde{\lambda }})=\mathbf{0}\), where \(Q_{4n}\) and \(Q_{5n}\) are defined in Section 3.
Proof
In order to prove the results, it suffices to show that \(l(\Theta )> l(\Theta _0)\) for \(\Theta \in \{\Theta : \Vert \Theta -\Theta _0\Vert =\delta _n\}\).
In fact. Following the proof line in Lemmas 6.2.2 and 6.2.3, for \(\Theta =\Theta _0+u\delta _n\) with \(\Vert u\Vert =1\), we have \(c_1\delta _n\le \big \Vert \frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\Theta )\big \Vert \le c_2\delta _n,\,a.s.,\) \(\big \Vert \frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\Theta _0)\big \Vert =o_{a.s.}(\delta _n)\) and \(\lambda (\Theta )=O_{a.s.}(\delta _n).\)
In addition, it is easy to see that
From the proof in (3) of Lemma 6.2.2, we have \(S_n(\Theta ):=\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\Theta )W_{ni}^{\mathrm T}(\Theta )\xrightarrow {a.s.}\Bigg (\begin{array}{cc} \sigma _{11}&{}\sigma _{12}\\ \sigma _{12}&{}\sigma _{22} \end{array}\Bigg ).\) Thus, for sufficiently large n, we have \(\lambda =\lambda (\Theta )=S_n^{-1}(\Theta )\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\Theta )+O_{a.s.}(\delta _n^2).\)
By using the Taylor expression, it follows that \(l(\Theta )=\frac{nh_n^d}{2\mu }\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}^{\mathrm T}(\Theta )\cdot S_{n}^{-1}(\Theta )\cdot \frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^nW_{ni}(\Theta )+O_{a.s.}(nh_n^d\delta _n^3) > cnh_n^d\delta _n^2.\) Then, from \(l(\Theta _0)=o_{a.s.}(nh_n^d\delta _n^2)\) we have \(l(\Theta )> l(\Theta _0)\). \(\square\)
Lemma 6.2.6
Let \(\alpha (n)=O(n^{-\lambda })\) for some \(\lambda \ge 4\). If (A1)-(A9) hold, then \(\sqrt{nh_n^d}\Bigg (\begin{array}{c}Q_{1n}(\xi _p,0,0)\\ Q_{2n}(\xi _p,0,0)\end{array}\Bigg )\xrightarrow {d}N(0,\Sigma ).\)
Proof
One can write
It is sufficient to show that \(I_3\xrightarrow {d}N(0,\Sigma )\), \(I_4=o(1)\), \(I_5=o_p(1).\) In fact. Lemma 6.2.1 gives \(\Vert I_4\Vert =O(\sqrt{nh_n^{d+2r_0}}+\sqrt{nh_n^da_n^{2r_1}})\rightarrow 0\) by (A7). In view of Lemma 6.1.5, we find
To prove \(I_3\xrightarrow {d}N(0,\Sigma )\), it is sufficient to prove that for \(b=(b_1,b_2)^{\mathrm T}\ne 0,\) \(\frac{\mu b^{\mathrm T}}{\sqrt{nh_n^d}}\sum \nolimits _{i=1}^n\big [W_i(\xi _p,\theta _0)-EW_i(\xi _p,\theta _0)\big ]\xrightarrow {d}N(0,b^{\mathrm T}\Sigma b),\) which can be proved by applying the Bernstein’s big-block and small-block procedure. \(\square\)
Lemma 6.2.7
Let \(\alpha (n)=O(n^{-\lambda })\) for some \(\lambda \ge 4\). Suppose that (A1)-(A9) hold. Then, for \(\widehat{\xi }\), \(\widehat{\lambda }_1\) and \(\widehat{\lambda }_2\) given in Lemma 6.2.4, we have
where \(S_{11}=-\sigma _{12}l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x})+\sigma _{22}l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})\), \(S_{12}=\sigma _{11}l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x})-\sigma _{12}l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})\) and
Proof
Lemma 6.2.4 shows \(\widehat{\xi },\) \(\widehat{\lambda }_1\) and \(\widehat{\lambda }_2\) satisfy Eqs. (2.7)–(2.9), so \(Q_{in}(\widehat{\xi },\widehat{\lambda }_1,\widehat{\lambda }_2)=0,i=1,2,3\). Applying the Taylor expansion to \(Q_{in}(\widehat{\xi },\widehat{\lambda }_1,\widehat{\lambda }_2)\) at point \((\xi _p,0,0)\), one can deduce
where \({\widehat{S}}_n=\left( \begin{array}{ccc} \frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW'_{1ni}(\xi _p)&{}-\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}^2(\xi _p)&{}-\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}(\xi _p)W_{2ni}(\xi _p,\theta _0)\\ \frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW'_{2ni}(\xi _p,\theta _0)&{}-\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{1ni}(\xi _p)W_{2ni}(\xi _p,\theta _0)&{}-\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW_{2ni}^2(\xi _p,\theta _0)\\ 0&{}\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW'_{1ni}(\xi _p)&{}\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^nW'_{2ni}(\xi _p,\theta _0) \end{array}\right)\) and \(R_n=|\widehat{\xi }-\xi _p|+|\widehat{\lambda }_1|+|\widehat{\lambda }_2|\). Similarly to the proof as in Lemma 6.2.2, we can also get
which, together with Lemma 6.2.2, yield that
Because \(\sigma _{11}\sigma _{22}-\sigma _{12}^2>0\), we have \(\det (S)=l^2(\mathbf{x})\left[ f^2(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})\sigma _{22}+f^2(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x})\sigma _{11}-2f(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x})\sigma _{12}\right] >0,\) thus, the matrix S is invertible and \(\left( \begin{array}{c} \widehat{\xi }-\xi _p\\ \widehat{\lambda }_1\\ \widehat{\lambda }_2 \end{array}\right) =-S^{-1}\left( \begin{array}{c} Q_{1n}(\xi _p,0,0)+o_p(R_n)\\ Q_{2n}(\xi _p,0,0)+o_p(R_n)\\ o_p(R_n) \end{array}\right)\), which yields
Lemma 6.2.6 implies \(Q_{1n}(\xi _p,0,0)=O_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2})\) and \(Q_{2n}(\xi _p,0,0)=O_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2})\). Then \(R_n=O_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2})\). Hence, using Lemma 6.2.6, the results are proved. \(\square\)
1.3 Proofs of main results
Proof of Theorem 3.1
The proof of the first conclusion can be obtained from Lemma 6.2.4. Next we prove the second claim.
Using the Taylor expansion to \(Q_{1n}(\widehat{\xi },\widehat{\lambda }_1,\widehat{\lambda }_2)=0\), \(Q_{2n}(\widehat{\xi },\widehat{\lambda }_1,\widehat{\lambda }_2)=0\) and based on the fact \(\widehat{\lambda }_1=O_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2}),\,\widehat{\lambda }_2=O_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2})\) from Lemma 6.2.7, we have
Combined with Lemmas 6.2.2 and 6.2.7, one can derive that
On the other hand, based on Lemma 6.2.7, we have \(\frac{nh_n^d}{\mu }\widehat{\lambda }_2^2\frac{f^2(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x})\sigma _{11}-2f(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x})\sigma _{12}+f^2(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})\sigma _{22}}{f^2(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})}\xrightarrow {d}\chi ^2_{1},\) thus, \(2 l_n(\theta _0)\xrightarrow {d}\chi ^2_{1}\). \(\square\)
Proof of Theorem 3.2
The proof of the first conclusion can be obtained from Lemma 6.2.5. Next we prove the second claim.
Applying the Taylor expansion to \(Q_{4n}({\widetilde{\Theta }},{\widetilde{\lambda }})=\mathbf{0},\) \(Q_{5n}({\widetilde{\Theta }},{\widetilde{\lambda }})=\mathbf{0}\) at point \((\Theta _0,\,\mathbf{0})\), it follows that
where \(M_n=\Vert {\widetilde{\Theta }}-\Theta _0\Vert +\Vert {\widetilde{\lambda }}\Vert\). After simple calculations, we have
\(\frac{\partial Q_{5n}(\Theta _0,\mathbf{0})}{\partial \Theta ^{\mathrm T}}=\mathbf{0}\) and \(\frac{\partial Q_{5n}(\Theta _0,\mathbf{0})}{\partial \lambda ^{\mathrm T}}=\frac{\mu }{nh_n^d}\sum \limits _{i=1}^n\frac{\partial W_{ni}(\Theta _0)}{\partial \Theta }\). Thus \(\Bigg (\begin{array}{c} {\widetilde{\lambda }}\\ {\widetilde{\Theta }}-\Theta _0 \end{array}\Bigg )=P_n^{-1}\Bigg (\begin{array}{c} -Q_{4n}(\Theta _0,\mathbf{0})+o_p(M_n)\\ o_p(M_n) \end{array}\Bigg ),\) where
with \(P_{11}=-\Bigg (\begin{array}{cc} \sigma _{11}&{}\sigma _{12}\\ \sigma _{12}&{}\sigma _{22} \end{array}\Bigg ),P_{12}=\Bigg (\begin{array}{cc} 0&{}l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p|\mathbf{x})\\ l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x})&{}l(\mathbf{x})f(\xi _p+\theta _0|\mathbf{x}) \end{array}\Bigg ),P_{21}=P_{12}^{\mathrm T}\).
Lemma 6.2.6 gives \(\sqrt{nh_n^d}Q_{4n}(\Theta _0,\mathbf{0})=\sqrt{nh_n^d}(Q_{1n}(\xi _p,0,0),\,Q_{2n}(\xi _p,0,0))^\mathrm T\xrightarrow {d}N(0,\Sigma )\), so \(Q_{4n}(\Theta _0,\mathbf{0})=O_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2})\). Thus we have \(M_n=O_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2})\) and \({\widetilde{\Theta }}-\Theta _0=-P_{12}^{-1}Q_{4n}(\Theta _0,\mathbf{0})+o_p((nh_n^d)^{-1/2}).\) Therefore \(\sqrt{nh_n^d}({\widetilde{\Theta }}-\Theta _0)=-P_{12}^{-1}\sqrt{nh_n^d}Q_{4n}(\Theta _0,\mathbf{0})+o_p(1)\xrightarrow {d}N(0,P_{12}^{-1}\Sigma P_{21}^{-1}).\) \(\square\)
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Kong, CJ., Liang, HY. Empirical likelihood of conditional quantile difference with left-truncated and dependent data. J. Korean Stat. Soc. 49, 1106–1130 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42952-019-00045-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42952-019-00045-5
Keywords
- Asymptotic normality
- conditional quantile difference
- Empirical likelihood
- Truncated data
- \(\alpha\)-mixing