A note on the $U, V$ method of estimation

Abstract

The $U, V$ method of estimation provides unbiased estimators or predictors of random quantities. The method was introduced by Robbins and subsequently studied in a series of papers by Robbins and Zhang. (See Zhang). Practical applications of the method are featured in these papers. We demonstrate that for one $U$ function (one for which there is an important application) the $V$ estimator is inadmissible for a wide class of loss functions. For another important $U$ function the $V$ estimator is admissible for the squared error loss function.