IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jmvana/v100y2009i9p2065-2082.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the distribution of penalized maximum likelihood estimators: The LASSO, SCAD, and thresholding

Author

Listed:
  • Pötscher, Benedikt M.
  • Leeb, Hannes

Abstract

We study the distributions of the LASSO, SCAD, and thresholding estimators, in finite samples and in the large-sample limit. The asymptotic distributions are derived for both the case where the estimators are tuned to perform consistent model selection and for the case where the estimators are tuned to perform conservative model selection. Our findings complement those of Knight and Fu [K. Knight, W. Fu, Asymptotics for lasso-type estimators, Annals of Statistics 28 (2000) 1356-1378] and Fan and Li [J. Fan, R. Li, Variable selection via non-concave penalized likelihood and its oracle properties, Journal of the American Statistical Association 96 (2001) 1348-1360]. We show that the distributions are typically highly non-normal regardless of how the estimator is tuned, and that this property persists in large samples. The uniform convergence rate of these estimators is also obtained, and is shown to be slower than n-1/2 in case the estimator is tuned to perform consistent model selection. An impossibility result regarding estimation of the estimators' distribution function is also provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Pötscher, Benedikt M. & Leeb, Hannes, 2009. "On the distribution of penalized maximum likelihood estimators: The LASSO, SCAD, and thresholding," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 100(9), pages 2065-2082, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmvana:v:100:y:2009:i:9:p:2065-2082
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047-259X(09)00125-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zou, Hui, 2006. "The Adaptive Lasso and Its Oracle Properties," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 101, pages 1418-1429, December.
    2. Leeb, Hannes & Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2008. "Can One Estimate The Unconditional Distribution Of Post-Model-Selection Estimators?," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 338-376, April.
    3. Leeb, Hannes & Potscher, Benedikt M., 2008. "Sparse estimators and the oracle property, or the return of Hodges' estimator," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 201-211, January.
    4. Knight, Keith, 2008. "Shrinkage Estimation For Nearly Singular Designs," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 323-337, April.
    5. Leeb, Hannes & Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2005. "Model Selection And Inference: Facts And Fiction," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(1), pages 21-59, February.
    6. repec:cup:etheor:v:11:y:1995:i:3:p:537-49 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Kabaila, Paul, 1995. "The Effect of Model Selection on Confidence Regions and Prediction Regions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 537-549, June.
    8. Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2006. "The Distribution of Model Averaging Estimators and an Impossibility Result Regarding Its Estimation," MPRA Paper 73, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jul 2006.
    9. Leeb, Hannes & Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2003. "The Finite-Sample Distribution Of Post-Model-Selection Estimators And Uniform Versus Nonuniform Approximations," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 100-142, February.
    10. Pötscher, B.M., 1991. "Effects of Model Selection on Inference," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 163-185, June.
    11. Rudolf Beran, 1997. "Diagnosing Bootstrap Success," Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Springer;The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, vol. 49(1), pages 1-24, March.
    12. Leeb, Hannes & Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2006. "Performance Limits For Estimators Of The Risk Or Distribution Of Shrinkage-Type Estimators, And Some General Lower Risk-Bound Results," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(1), pages 69-97, February.
    13. Fan J. & Li R., 2001. "Variable Selection via Nonconcave Penalized Likelihood and its Oracle Properties," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 96, pages 1348-1360, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Liu, Chu-An, 2015. "Distribution theory of the least squares averaging estimator," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 186(1), pages 142-159.
    2. Pötscher, Benedikt M. & Schneider, Ulrike, 2007. "On the distribution of the adaptive LASSO estimator," MPRA Paper 6913, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Leeb, Hannes & Potscher, Benedikt M., 2008. "Sparse estimators and the oracle property, or the return of Hodges' estimator," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 201-211, January.
    4. Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2007. "Confidence Sets Based on Sparse Estimators Are Necessarily Large," MPRA Paper 5677, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Leeb, Hannes & Pötscher, Benedikt M. & Ewald, Karl, 2014. "On various confidence intervals post-model-selection," MPRA Paper 52858, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Tae-Hwy Lee & Zhou Xi & Ru Zhang, 2013. "Testing for Neglected Nonlinearity Using Regularized Artificial Neural Networks," Working Papers 201422, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2012.
    7. Liu, Chu-An, 2012. "A plug-in averaging estimator for regressions with heteroskedastic errors," MPRA Paper 41414, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2006. "The Distribution of Model Averaging Estimators and an Impossibility Result Regarding Its Estimation," MPRA Paper 73, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jul 2006.
    9. Wan, Alan T.K. & Zhang, Xinyu & Zou, Guohua, 2010. "Least squares model averaging by Mallows criterion," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 156(2), pages 277-283, June.
    10. Anders Bredahl Kock, 2012. "On the Oracle Property of the Adaptive Lasso in Stationary and Nonstationary Autoregressions," CREATES Research Papers 2012-05, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    11. Leeb, Hannes & Pötscher, Benedikt M., 2008. "Can One Estimate The Unconditional Distribution Of Post-Model-Selection Estimators?," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 338-376, April.
    12. Liao, Zhipeng & Phillips, Peter C. B., 2015. "Automated Estimation Of Vector Error Correction Models," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(3), pages 581-646, June.
    13. Ricardo P. Masini & Marcelo C. Medeiros & Eduardo F. Mendes, 2023. "Machine learning advances for time series forecasting," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 76-111, February.
    14. Farrell, Max H., 2015. "Robust inference on average treatment effects with possibly more covariates than observations," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 1-23.
    15. Lu, Xun & Su, Liangjun, 2016. "Shrinkage estimation of dynamic panel data models with interactive fixed effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 190(1), pages 148-175.
    16. Xianyi Wu & Xian Zhou, 2019. "On Hodges’ superefficiency and merits of oracle property in model selection," Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Springer;The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, vol. 71(5), pages 1093-1119, October.
    17. Susan M. Shortreed & Ashkan Ertefaie, 2017. "Outcome‐adaptive lasso: Variable selection for causal inference," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 73(4), pages 1111-1122, December.
    18. Ng, Serena, 2013. "Variable Selection in Predictive Regressions," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, in: G. Elliott & C. Granger & A. Timmermann (ed.), Handbook of Economic Forecasting, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 752-789, Elsevier.
    19. Aman Ullah & Huansha Wang, 2013. "Parametric and Nonparametric Frequentist Model Selection and Model Averaging," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 1(2), pages 1-23, September.
    20. Bruce E. Hansen, 2007. "Least Squares Model Averaging," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1175-1189, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    primary; 62J07; 62J05; 62F11; 62F12; 62E15 Penalized maximum likelihood LASSO SCAD Thresholding Post-model-selection estimator Finite-sample distribution Asymptotic distribution Oracle property Estimation of distribution Uniform consistency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • C2 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables

    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:eee:jmvana:v:100:y:2009:i:9:p:2065-2082. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622892/description#description .

    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.