IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jorssb/v71y2009i1p159-175.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Bayesian approach to non‐parametric monotone function estimation

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas S. Shively
  • Thomas W. Sager
  • Stephen G. Walker

Abstract

Summary. The paper proposes two Bayesian approaches to non‐parametric monotone function estimation. The first approach uses a hierarchical Bayes framework and a characterization of smooth monotone functions given by Ramsay that allows unconstrained estimation. The second approach uses a Bayesian regression spline model of Smith and Kohn with a mixture distribution of constrained normal distributions as the prior for the regression coefficients to ensure the monotonicity of the resulting function estimate. The small sample properties of the two function estimators across a range of functions are provided via simulation and compared with existing methods. Asymptotic results are also given that show that Bayesian methods provide consistent function estimators for a large class of smooth functions. An example is provided involving economic demand functions that illustrates the application of the constrained regression spline estimator in the context of a multiple‐regression model where two functions are constrained to be monotone.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas S. Shively & Thomas W. Sager & Stephen G. Walker, 2009. "A Bayesian approach to non‐parametric monotone function estimation," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 71(1), pages 159-175, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jorssb:v:71:y:2009:i:1:p:159-175
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9868.2008.00677.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9868.2008.00677.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9868.2008.00677.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. O. Ramsay, 1998. "Estimating smooth monotone functions," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 60(2), pages 365-375.
    2. Smith, Michael & Kohn, Robert, 1996. "Nonparametric regression using Bayesian variable selection," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 317-343, December.
    3. Brian Neelon & David B. Dunson, 2004. "Bayesian Isotonic Regression and Trend Analysis," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 60(2), pages 398-406, June.
    4. Stephen Walker & Nils Lid Hjort, 2001. "On Bayesian consistency," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 63(4), pages 811-821.
    5. Wong, Chi-ming & Kohn, Robert, 1996. "A Bayesian approach to additive semiparametric regression," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 209-235, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wu, Ximing & Sickles, Robin, 2018. "Semiparametric estimation under shape constraints," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 74-89.
    2. Shively, Thomas S. & Walker, Stephen G. & Damien, Paul, 2011. "Nonparametric function estimation subject to monotonicity, convexity and other shape constraints," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 161(2), pages 166-181, April.
    3. Christophe Abraham & Khader Khadraoui, 2015. "Bayesian regression with B-splines under combinations of shape constraints and smoothness properties," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 69(2), pages 150-170, May.
    4. Taeryon Choi & Hea-Jung Kim & Seongil Jo, 2016. "Bayesian variable selection approach to a Bernstein polynomial regression model with stochastic constraints," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(15), pages 2751-2771, November.
    5. Hazelton, Martin L. & Turlach, Berwin A., 2011. "Semiparametric regression with shape-constrained penalized splines," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(10), pages 2871-2879, October.
    6. Shively, Thomas S. & Kockelman, Kara & Damien, Paul, 2010. "A Bayesian semi-parametric model to estimate relationships between crash counts and roadway characteristics," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 699-715, June.
    7. Alexander Henzi & Johanna F. Ziegel & Tilmann Gneiting, 2021. "Isotonic distributional regression," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 83(5), pages 963-993, November.
    8. Gabriel Riutort-Mayol & Virgilio Gómez-Rubio & José Luis Lerma & Julio M. del Hoyo-Meléndez, 2020. "Correlated Functional Models with Derivative Information for Modeling Microfading Spectrometry Data on Rock Art Paintings," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-25, December.
    9. Smith, Michael Stanley & Shively, Thomas S., 2018. "Econometric modeling of regional electricity spot prices in the Australian market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 886-903.
    10. Xingdong Feng & Nell Sedransk & Jessie Q. Xia, 2014. "Calibration using constrained smoothing with applications to mass spectrometry data," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 70(2), pages 398-408, June.
    11. Yang Liu & Xiaojing Wang, 2020. "Bayesian Nonparametric Monotone Regression of Dynamic Latent Traits in Item Response Theory Models," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 45(3), pages 274-296, June.
    12. Andrew G. Atkeson & Karen A. Kopecky & Tao Zha, 2024. "Four Stylized Facts About Covid‐19," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(1), pages 3-42, February.
    13. C Rohrbeck & D A Costain & A Frigessi, 2018. "Bayesian spatial monotonic multiple regression," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 105(3), pages 691-707.
    14. Ander Wilson & David M. Reif & Brian J. Reich, 2014. "Hierarchical dose–response modeling for high-throughput toxicity screening of environmental chemicals," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 70(1), pages 237-246, March.
    15. Mary Meyer & Amber Hackstadt & Jennifer Hoeting, 2011. "Bayesian estimation and inference for generalised partial linear models using shape-restricted splines," Journal of Nonparametric Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 867-884.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shively, Thomas S. & Kockelman, Kara & Damien, Paul, 2010. "A Bayesian semi-parametric model to estimate relationships between crash counts and roadway characteristics," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 699-715, June.
    2. Shively, Thomas S. & Walker, Stephen G. & Damien, Paul, 2011. "Nonparametric function estimation subject to monotonicity, convexity and other shape constraints," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 161(2), pages 166-181, April.
    3. Cai, Bo & Dunson, David B., 2007. "Bayesian Multivariate Isotonic Regression Splines: Applications to Carcinogenicity Studies," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 102, pages 1158-1171, December.
    4. Christophe Abraham & Khader Khadraoui, 2015. "Bayesian regression with B-splines under combinations of shape constraints and smoothness properties," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 69(2), pages 150-170, May.
    5. Hazelton, Martin L. & Turlach, Berwin A., 2011. "Semiparametric regression with shape-constrained penalized splines," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(10), pages 2871-2879, October.
    6. Geweke, John & Keane, Michael, 2005. "Bayesian Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Conditional Distribution of Earnings of Men in the United States, 1967-1996: Appendices," MPRA Paper 54286, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. C Rohrbeck & D A Costain & A Frigessi, 2018. "Bayesian spatial monotonic multiple regression," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 105(3), pages 691-707.
    8. Geweke, John & Keane, Michael, 2005. "Bayesian Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Conditional Distribution of Earnings of Men in the United States, 1967-1996," MPRA Paper 54281, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Björn Bornkamp & Katja Ickstadt, 2009. "Bayesian Nonparametric Estimation of Continuous Monotone Functions with Applications to Dose–Response Analysis," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 65(1), pages 198-205, March.
    10. John Haslett & Andrew Parnell, 2008. "A simple monotone process with application to radiocarbon‐dated depth chronologies," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 57(4), pages 399-418, September.
    11. Panagiotelis, Anastasios & Smith, Michael, 2008. "Bayesian identification, selection and estimation of semiparametric functions in high-dimensional additive models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 291-316, April.
    12. Guarin, Alexander & Lozano, Ignacio, 2017. "Credit funding and banking fragility: A forecasting model for emerging economies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 168-189.
    13. Giordani, Paolo & Jacobson, Tor & Schedvin, Erik von & Villani, Mattias, 2014. "Taking the Twists into Account: Predicting Firm Bankruptcy Risk with Splines of Financial Ratios," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 1071-1099, August.
    14. Smith, Michael & Kohn, Robert & Mathur, Sharat K., 2000. "Bayesian Semiparametric Regression: An Exposition and Application to Print Advertising Data," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 229-244, September.
    15. Eduardo L. Montoya & Wendy Meiring, 2016. "An F-type test for detecting departure from monotonicity in a functional linear model," Journal of Nonparametric Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 322-337, June.
    16. Fernandez, Carmen & Ley, Eduardo & Steel, Mark F. J., 2001. "Benchmark priors for Bayesian model averaging," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 381-427, February.
    17. Sarah Brown & Pulak Ghosh & Bhuvanesh Pareek & Karl Taylor, 2017. "Financial Hardship and Saving Behaviour: Bayesian Analysis of British Panel Data," Working Papers 2017011, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    18. Carmen Fernandez & Eduardo Ley & Mark F. J. Steel, 2001. "Model uncertainty in cross-country growth regressions," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(5), pages 563-576.
    19. Luo, Yu & Graham, Daniel J. & McCoy, Emma J., 2023. "Semiparametric Bayesian doubly robust causal estimation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117944, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Kuhlenkasper, Torben & Kauermann, Göran, 2010. "Female wage profiles: An additive mixed model approach to employment breaks due to childcare," HWWI Research Papers 2-18, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jorssb:v:71:y:2009:i:1:p:159-175. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rssssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.