Extensions of Semiparametric Single Index Models

In the recent decades, researchers have made tremendous progress in the study of nonparametric and semiparametric models. Among them, the semiparametric single-index model is intensively studied due to its simplicity and flexibility. In a single-index model, conditional response mean depends on the independent covariates through a single linear combination of the covariates along with an unknown function, which is sometimes called a link function. Therefore, the single-index model relaxes some of the restrictive assumptions of familiar parametric models, such as linear models and logit models. In addition, single-index models are useful dimension reduction techniques with great estimation precision. In this dissertation, we focus on extensions of the single-index models in two directions.

Chapter 2 considers estimation and variable selection problems of additive multi-index models. Without knowing significant covariates corresponding to additive components, we have automatically selected significant variables for each component. We have developed a numerically stable and computationally fast estimation procedure by utilizing both the least squares method and the local optimization. Further, we have established asymptotic normality for proposed estimators of index coefficients as well as the consistency for nonparametric function estimators. Simulation experiments have provided strong evidence that corroborates the asymptotic theory. A baseball hitters’ salary example has been used to illustrate the application of the model.

Furthermore, to better explore the upper and the lower frontiers of data, we have studied the expectile regression of single-index models in Chapter 3. With the spline smoothing technique of the nonparametric regression, different levels of conditional expectile curves provide us more comprehensive information about the data structure and extreme data values. Unlike in Chapter 2, we have applied the minimax concave penalty to achieve the variable selection for expectile regression. In the numerical analysis, simulated examples as well as a clinical trial data set have been investigated.