Estimating Discrete Joint Probability Distributions for Demographic Characteristics at the Store Level Given Store Level Marginal Distributions and a City-Wide Joint Distribution

Estimating Discrete Joint Probability Distributions for Demographic Characteristics at the Store Level Given Store Level Marginal Distributions and a City-Wide Joint Distribution PDF

Author: Charles J. Romeo

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This paper provides a solution to the problem of estimating a joint distribution using the associated marginal distributions and a related joint distribution. The particular application we have in mind is for estimating joint distributions of demographic characteristics corresponding to market areas for individual retail stores. Marginal distributions are generally available at the census tract level, but joint distributions are only available for Metropolitan Statistical Areas which are generally much larger than the market for a single retail store. Joint distributions over demographics are an important input into mixed logit demand models for aggregate data. Market shares that vary systematically with demographics are essential for relieving the restrictions imposed by the Independence of Irrelevant Alternative property of the logit model. We approach this problem by formulating a parametric function that incorporates both the city-wide joint distributional information and marginal information specific to the retail store's market area. To estimate the function, we form moment conditions equating the moments of the parametric function to observed data, and we input these into a GMM objective. In one of our illustrations we use four marginal demographic distributions from each of eight stores in Dominick's Finer Foods data archive to estimate a four dimensional joint distribution for each store. Our results show that our GMM approach produces estimated joint distributions which emit marginals that closely match the observed marginal distributions. Mixed logit demand estimates are also presented with show the estimates to be sensitive to the formulation of the demographics distribution.

Essays on finite mixture models

Essays on finite mixture models PDF

Author: Abram van Dijk

Publisher: Rozenberg Publishers

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 9036101344

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Finite mixture distributions are a weighted average of a finite number of distributions. The latter are usually called the mixture components. The weights are usually described by a multinomial distribution and are sometimes called mixing proportions. The mixture components may be the same type of distributions with di®erent parameter values but they may also be completely different distributions. Therefore, finite mixture distributions are very °exible for modeling data. They are frequently used as a building block within many modern econometric models. The specification of the mixture distribution depends on the modeling problem at hand. In this thesis, we introduce new applications of finite mixtures to deal with several di®erent modeling issues. Each chapter of the thesis focusses on a specific modeling issue. The parameters of some of the resulting models can be estimated using standard techniques but for some of the chapters we need to develop new estimation and inference methods. To illustrate how the methods can be applied, we analyze at least one empirical data set for each approach. These data sets cover a wide range of research fields, such as macroeconomics, marketing, and political science. We show the usefulness of the methods and, in some cases, the improvement over previous methods in the literature.

Introduction to Probability

Introduction to Probability PDF

Author: Joseph K. Blitzstein

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2014-07-24

Total Pages: 599

ISBN-13: 1466575573

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Developed from celebrated Harvard statistics lectures, Introduction to Probability provides essential language and tools for understanding statistics, randomness, and uncertainty. The book explores a wide variety of applications and examples, ranging from coincidences and paradoxes to Google PageRank and Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). Additional application areas explored include genetics, medicine, computer science, and information theory. The print book version includes a code that provides free access to an eBook version. The authors present the material in an accessible style and motivate concepts using real-world examples. Throughout, they use stories to uncover connections between the fundamental distributions in statistics and conditioning to reduce complicated problems to manageable pieces. The book includes many intuitive explanations, diagrams, and practice problems. Each chapter ends with a section showing how to perform relevant simulations and calculations in R, a free statistical software environment.

Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation

Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation PDF

Author: Kenneth Train

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-07-06

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0521766559

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book describes the new generation of discrete choice methods, focusing on the many advances that are made possible by simulation. Researchers use these statistical methods to examine the choices that consumers, households, firms, and other agents make. Each of the major models is covered: logit, generalized extreme value, or GEV (including nested and cross-nested logits), probit, and mixed logit, plus a variety of specifications that build on these basics. Simulation-assisted estimation procedures are investigated and compared, including maximum stimulated likelihood, method of simulated moments, and method of simulated scores. Procedures for drawing from densities are described, including variance reduction techniques such as anithetics and Halton draws. Recent advances in Bayesian procedures are explored, including the use of the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm and its variant Gibbs sampling. The second edition adds chapters on endogeneity and expectation-maximization (EM) algorithms. No other book incorporates all these fields, which have arisen in the past 25 years. The procedures are applicable in many fields, including energy, transportation, environmental studies, health, labor, and marketing.