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Uniform mean estimation for monotonic processes

Author

Listed:
  • Clerico, Eugenio
  • Flynn, Hamish E.
  • Rebeschini, Patrick

Abstract

We consider the problem of deriving uniform confidence bands for the mean of a monotonic stochastic process, such as the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a random variable, based on a sequence of i.i.d. observations. Our approach leverages the coin-betting framework, and inherits several favourable characteristics of coin-betting methods. In particular, for each point in the domain of the mean function, we obtain anytime-valid confidence intervals that are numerically tight and adapt to the variance of the observations. To derive uniform confidence bands, we employ a continuous union bound that crucially leverages monotonicity. In the case of CDF estimation, we also exploit the fact that the empirical CDF is piece-wise constant to obtain simple confidence bands that can be easily computed. In simulations, we find that our confidence bands for the CDF achieve state-of-the-art performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Clerico, Eugenio & Flynn, Hamish E. & Rebeschini, Patrick, 2026. "Uniform mean estimation for monotonic processes," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:stapro:v:228:y:2026:i:c:s0167715225002032
    DOI: 10.1016/j.spl.2025.110558
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Goldman, Matt & Kaplan, David M., 2018. "Comparing distributions by multiple testing across quantiles or CDF values," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 206(1), pages 143-166.
    2. Ruodu Wang & Aaditya Ramdas, 2022. "False discovery rate control with e‐values," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 84(3), pages 822-852, July.
    3. Glenn Shafer, 2021. "Testing by betting: A strategy for statistical and scientific communication," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(2), pages 407-431, April.
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