Electronic Journal of Statistics

A deconvolution path for mixtures

Abstract

We propose a class of estimators for deconvolution in mixture models based on a simple two-step “bin-and-smooth” procedure applied to histogram counts. The method is both statistically and computationally efficient: by exploiting recent advances in convex optimization, we are able to provide a full deconvolution path that shows the estimate for the mi-xing distribution across a range of plausible degrees of smoothness, at far less cost than a full Bayesian analysis. This enables practitioners to conduct a sensitivity analysis with minimal effort. This is especially important for applied data analysis, given the ill-posed nature of the deconvolution problem. Our results establish the favorable theoretical properties of our estimator and show that it offers state-of-the-art performance when compared to benchmark methods across a range of scenarios.

Article information

Source
Electron. J. Statist., Volume 12, Number 1 (2018), 1717-1751.

Dates
First available in Project Euclid: 29 May 2018

https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ejs/1527559246

Digital Object Identifier
doi:10.1214/18-EJS1430

Mathematical Reviews number (MathSciNet)
MR3806437

Zentralblatt MATH identifier
06886382

Subjects
Primary: 62G05: Estimation
Secondary: 62G07: Density estimation

Citation

Madrid-Padilla, Oscar-Hernan; Polson, Nicholas G.; Scott, James. A deconvolution path for mixtures. Electron. J. Statist. 12 (2018), no. 1, 1717--1751. doi:10.1214/18-EJS1430. https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ejs/1527559246

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