Classical parametric estimation methods applied to nonlinear regression and limited-dependent-variable models are very sensitive to misspecification and data errors. On the other hand, semiparametric and nonparametric methods, which are not restricted by parametric assumptions, require more data...

In this work, we introduce a smoothed influence function that constitute a theoretical tool for studying the outliers robustness properties of a large class of nonparametric estimators. With this tool, we first show the nonrobustness of the Nadaraya-Watson estimator of regression. Then we show...

Deviations from the center within a robust neighborhood may naturally be considered an infinite dimensional nuisance parameter. Thus, in principle, the semiparametric method may be tried, which is to compute the scores function for the main parameter minus its orthogonal projection on the closed...

We analyze the impact of an individual's tendency to worry on willingness to pay (WTP) for a protective measure. We report on the results of a controlled experiment with real objects at stake. Worry was measured with the Worry Domains Questionnaire, an instrument determining an individual's...

The paper concerns the fixed-width confidence intervals for location based on M- estimators in the location model. A robust three-stage procedure is proposed and its asymptotic properties are studied. The performance of the procedure depends on some tuning parameters. Their effect on the...

Bayes estimates are derived in multivariate linear models with unknown distribution. The prior distribution is defined using a Dirichlet prior for the unknown error distribution and a ormal-Wishart distribution for the parameters. The posterior distribution for the parameters is determined and...

The Normal Inverse Gaussian (NIG) distribution recently introduced by Barndorff-Nielsen (1997) is a promising alternative for modelling financial data exhibiting skewness and fat tails. In this paper we explore the Bayesian estimation of NIG-parameters by Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods. --...