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Abdelhakim Necir

Publications and source records attributed to Abdelhakim Necir.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Weighted Gaussian Approximations for Increments of the Uniform Empirical and Quantile Processes: Fixed-Endpoint Extensions to the Finite-Count Scale

We establish weighted Gaussian approximations for the uniform empirical and quantile processes and for their increments ending at a fixed point t in (0,1). We first place the classical weighted approximations for the ordinary processes in a common framework and then show that the corresponding increment approximations remain valid uniformly down to the finite-count scale lambda/n, for every fixed lambda > 0. For the empirical increments, the proof splits the sample at t, couples the two resulting conditional empirical processes with independent Brownian bridges, and approximates the binomial fluctuation at t by a Gaussian variable. The three Gaussian components are then combined into a single standard Brownian bridge. For the quantile increments, the Renyi representation and a reversal of the relevant exponential spacings reduce the problem to the weighted approximation of an ordinary uniform quantile process. The resulting bounds hold for 0 <= nu < 1/4 in the empirical case and for 0 <= eta < 1/2 in the quantile case. As an application of the empirical increment approximation, we derive simultaneous weighted Gaussian approximations for the censored and uncensored empirical subdistribution-tail processes arising under random right censoring.

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Weighted and Truncated Tail Index Estimation under Random Censoring: A Unified Full-Range Framework

Estimation of the extreme value index under right censoring is a fundamental problem in extreme value theory, with important applications in finance, insurance, and reliability. Classical integral estimators for Pareto-type tails typically require that the asymptotic proportion of uncensored observations in the tail is larger than one half, corresponding to the weak censoring regime. This restriction excludes many practically relevant situations involving strong censoring, where the proportion of uncensored observations is smaller than or equal to one half, and reflects the absence of a uniformly valid Gaussian approximation for the associated tail empirical process. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a weighted and truncated Nelson--Aalen tail empirical process and construct a class of integral estimators indexed by a tuning parameter larger than one. This approach restores a tractable asymptotic structure over the entire censoring range, from very weak to very strong censoring. Under standard regular variation conditions, we establish a uniform Gaussian approximation and derive consistency and asymptotic normality without imposing restrictions on the censoring level. A key ingredient of the analysis is a linearization of the estimator as a functional of the underlying process. Simulation studies and real data applications demonstrate improved stability and accuracy, particularly under moderate and strong censoring. In particular, the analysis of insurance loss data, representing weak censoring, and Australian AIDS survival data, representing strong censoring, illustrates the practical relevance of the proposed methodology across contrasting censoring regimes.

math.ST

Robust Tail Index Estimation under Random Censoring via Minimum Density Power Divergence

We propose a robust estimator for the tail index of Pareto-type distributions under random right-censoring, constructed within the minimum density power divergence (MDPD) framework and based on the Nelson--Aalen estimator of the cumulative hazard function. To our knowledge, this is the first application of the MDPD methodology to tail index estimation in the presence of random censoring. Under mild regularity conditions and within the weak censoring regime, the estimator is shown to be consistent and asymptotically normal. Its finite-sample performance is assessed through Monte Carlo simulations, revealing improved robustness--efficiency trade-offs compared to standard non-robust tail index estimators. Robustness is investigated under both pre-censoring and post-censoring contamination schemes. While pre-censoring contamination provides a meaningful framework for robustness assessment, post-censoring contamination directly alters the observable data and highlights the sensitivity of reconstruction-based approaches. The practical relevance of the method is illustrated using an insurance claims dataset with light censoring and fully observable extremes. An additional application to AIDS survival data is included for illustrative purposes, emphasizing the challenges encountered under stronger censoring.

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Weighted Estimation of the Tail Index under Right Censorship: A Unified Approach Based on Kaplan-Meier and Nelson-Aalen Integrals

Kaplan-Meier and Nelson-Aalen integral estimators to the tail index of right-censored Pareto-type data traditionally rely on the assumption that the proportion p of upper uncensored observations exceeds one-half, corresponding to weak censoring regime. However, this condition excludes many practical settings characterized by strong censorship, where p is less than or equal to one-half. To address this bothering limitation, we propose a modification that incorporates a tuning parameter. This parameter, greater than one, assigns appropriate weights to the estimators, thereby extending the applicability of the method to the entire censoring range, where p is between zero and one. Under suitable regularity conditions, we establish the consistency and asymptotic normality of the proposed estimators. Extensive simulation studies reveal a clear improvement over existing methods in terms of bias and mean squared error, particularly in the strong censoring situation. These results highlight the significant practical and theoretical impact of our approach, offering a more flexible and accurate framework for tail index estimation under censoring. The usefulness of the method is further illustrated through its application to two real datasets: one on insurance losses (weak censoring) and the other on AIDS cases (strong censoring).

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Robust and Smooth Estimation of the Extreme Tail Index via Weighted Minimum Density Power Divergence

By introducing a weight function into the density power divergence, we develop a new class of robust and smooth estimators for the tail index of Pareto-type distributions, offering improved efficiency in the presence of outliers. These estimators can be viewed as a robust generalization of both weighted least squares and kernel-based tail index estimators. We establish the consistency and asymptotic normality of the proposed class. A simulation study is conducted to assess their finite-sample performance in comparison with existing methods.

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Nelson-Aalen kernel estimator to the tail index of right censored Pareto-type data

On the basis of Nelson-Aalen product-limit estimator of a randomly censored distribution function, we introduce a kernel estimator to the tail index of right-censored Pareto-like data. Under some regularity assumptions, the consistency and asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator are established. A small simulation study shows that the proposed estimator performs much better, in terms of bias and stability, than the existing ones with, a slight increase in the mean squared error. The results are applied to insurance loss data to illustrate the practical effectiveness of our estimator.

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Kernel estimation for the tail index of a right-censored Pareto-type distribution

We introduce a kernel estimator, to the tail index of a right-censored Pareto-type distribution, that generalizes Worms's one (Worms and Worms, 2014)in terms of weight coefficients. Under some regularity conditions, the asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator is established. In the framework of the second-order condition, we derive an asymptotically bias-reduced version to the new estimator. Through a simulation study, we conclude that one of the main features of the proposed kernel estimator is its smoothness contrary to Worms's one, which behaves, rather erratically, as a function of the number of largest extreme values. As expected, the bias significantly decreases compared to that of the non-smoothed estimator with however a slight increase in the mean squared error.

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Semiparametric tail-index estimation for randomly right-truncated heavy-tailed data

It was shown that when one disposes of a parametric information of the truncation distribution, the semiparametric estimator of the distribution function for truncated data (Wang, 1989) is more efficient than the nonparametric one. On the basis of this estimation method, we derive an estimator for the tail index of Pareto-type distributions that are randomly right-truncated and establish its consistency and asymptotic normality. The finite sample behavior of the proposed estimator is carried out by simulation study. We point out that, in terms of both bias and root of the mean squared error, our estimator performs better than those based on nonparametric estimation methods. An application to a real dataset of induction times of AIDS diseases is given as well.

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Tail empirical process and weighted extreme value index estimator for randomly right-censored data

A tail empirical process for heavy-tailed and right-censored data is introduced and its Gaussian approximation is established. In this context, a (weighted) new Hill-type estimator for positive extreme value index is proposed and its consistency and asymptotic normality are proved by means of the aforementioned process in the framework of second-order conditions of regular variation. In a comparative simulation study, the newly defined estimator is seen to perform better than the already existing ones in terms of both bias and mean squared error. As a real data example, we apply our estimation procedure to evaluate the tail index of the survival time of Australian male Aids patients. It is noteworthy that our approach may also serve to develop other statistics related to the distribution tail such as second-order parameter and reduced-bias tail index estimators. Furthermore, the proposed tail empirical process provides a goodness-of-fit test for Pareto-like models under censorship.

math.ST

Komlós-Major-Tusnády approximations to increments of uniform empirical processes

The well-known Komlós-Major-Tusnády inequalities [Z. Wahrsch. Verw. Gebiete 32 (1975) 111-131; Z. Wahrsch. Verw. Gebiete 34 (1976) 33-58] provide sharp inequalities to partial sums of iid standard exponential random variables by a sequence of standard Brownian motions. In this paper, we employ these results to establish Gaussian approximations to weighted increments of uniform empirical and quantile processes. This approach provides rates to the approximations which, among others, have direct applications to statistics of extreme values for randomly censored data.

math.ST

A Lynden-Bell integral estimator for the tail index of right-truncated data with a random threshold

By means of a Lynden-Bell integral with deterministic threshold, Worms and Worms [A Lynden-Bell integral estimator for extremes of randomly truncated data. Statist. Probab. Lett. 2016; 109: 106-117] recently introduced an asymptotically normal estimator of the tail index for randomly right-truncated Pareto-type data. In this context, we consider the random threshold case to derive a Hill-type estimator and establish its consistency and asymptotic normality. A simulation study is carried out to evaluate the finite sample behavior of the proposed estimator.

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Estimating the second-order parameter of regular variation and bias reduction in tail index estimation under random truncation

In this paper, we propose an estimator of the second-order parameter of randomly right-truncated Pareto-type distributions data and establish its consistency and asymptotic normality. Moreover, we derive an asymptotically unbiased estimator of the tail index and study its asymptotic behaviour. Our considerations are based on a useful Gaussian approximation of the tail product-limit process recently given by Benchaira et al. [Tail product-limit process for truncated data with application to extreme value index estimation. Extremes, 2016; 19: 219-251] and the results of Gomes et al. [Semi-parametric estimation of the second order parameter in statistics of extremes. Extremes, 2002; 5: 387-414]. We show, by simulation, that the proposed estimators behave well, in terms of bias and mean square error.

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Nelson-Aalen tail product-limit process and extreme value index estimation under random censorship

On the basis of Nelson-Aalen nonparametric estimator of the cumulative distribution function, we provide a weak approximation to tail product-limit process for randomly right-censored heavy-tailed data. In this context, a new consistent reduced-bias estimator of the extreme value index is introduced and its asymptotic normality is established only by assuming the second-order regular variation of the underlying distribution function. A simulation study shows that the newly proposed estimator performs better than the existing ones.

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Statistical estimate of the proportional hazard premium of loss under random censoring

Many insurance premium principles are defined and various estimation procedures introduced in the literature. In this paper, we focus on the estimation of the excess-of-loss reinsurance premium when the risks are randomly right-censored. The asymptotic normality of the proposed estimator is established under suitable conditions and its performance evaluated through sets of simulated data.

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Kernel estimation of the tail index of a right-truncated Pareto-type distribution

In this paper, we define a kernel estimator for the tail index of a Pareto-type distribution under random right-truncation and establish its asymptotic normality. A simulation study shows that, compared to the estimators recently proposed by Gardes & Stupfler (2015) and Benchaira et al. (2015), this newly introduced estimator behaves better, in terms of bias and mean squared error, for small samples.

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Estimating the mean of a heavy-tailed distribution under random censoring

The central limit theorem introduced by Stute [The central limit theorem under random censorship. Ann. Statist. 1995; 23: 422-439] does not hold for some class of heavy-tailed distributions. In this paper, we make use of the extreme value theory to propose an alternative estimating approach of the mean ensuring the asymptotic normality property. A simulation study is carried out to evaluate the performance of this estimation procedure

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Gaussian approximation to the extreme value index estimator of a heavy-tailed distribution under random censoring

We make use of the empirical process theory to approximate the adapted Hill estimator, for censored data, in terms of Gaussian processes. Then, we derive its asymptotic normality, only under the usual second-order condition of regular variation. Our methodology allows to relax the assumptions, made in Einmahl, Fils-Villetard and Guillou(2008), on the heavy-tailed distribution functions and the sample fraction of upper order statistics.

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