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Sampling properties of the Bayesian posterior mean with anapplication to WALS estimation

Author

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  • Giuseppe De Luca

    (University of Palermo)

  • Jan R. Magnus

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Franco Peracchi

    (Georgetown University and EIEF)

Abstract

Many statistical and econometric learning methods rely on Bayesian ideas, often applied or reinterpreted in a frequentist setting. Two leading examples are shrinkage estimators and model averaging estimators, such as weighted-average least squares (WALS). In many instances, the accuracy of these learning methods in repeated samples is assessed using the variance of the posterior distribution of the parameters of interest given the data. This may be permissible when the sample size is large because, under the conditions of the Bernstein–von Mises theorem, the posterior variance agrees asymptotically with the frequentist variance. In finite samples, however, things are less clear. In this paper we explore this issue by first considering the frequentist properties (bias and variance) of the posterior mean in the important case of the normal location model, which consists of a single observation on a univariate Gaussian distribution with unknown mean and known variance. Based on these results, we derive new estimators of the frequentist bias and variance of the WALS estimator in finite samples. We then study the finite-sample performance of the proposed estimators by a Monte Carlo experiment with design derived from a real data application about the effect of abortion on crime rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe De Luca & Jan R. Magnus & Franco Peracchi, 2020. "Sampling properties of the Bayesian posterior mean with anapplication to WALS estimation," EIEF Working Papers Series 2003, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised Mar 2020.
  • Handle: RePEc:eie:wpaper:2003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General
    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods: General
    • C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation, Validation, and Selection
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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