Fast moment-based estimation for hierarchical models
By: Researcher
Disclaimer: The provided code links for this paper are external links. Science Nest has no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of these links. Also, by downloading this code(s), you agree to comply with the terms of use as set out by the author(s) of the code(s).
| Authors | Patrick O. Perry |
| Journal/Conference Name | Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Statistical Methodology) |
| Paper Category | Other |
| Paper Abstract | Hierarchical models allow for heterogeneous behaviours in a population while simultaneously borrowing estimation strength across all subpopulations. Unfortunately, existing likelihood-based methods for fitting hierarchical models have high computational demands, and these demands have limited their adoption in large-scale prediction and inference problems. This paper proposes a moment-based procedure for estimating the parameters of a hierarchical model which has its roots in a method originally introduced by Cochin 1937. The method trades statistical efficiency for computational efficiency. It gives consistent parameter estimates, competitive prediction error performance, and substantial computational improvements. When applied to a large-scale recommender system application and compared to a standard maximum likelihood procedure, the method delivers competitive prediction performance while reducing the sequential computation time from hours to minutes. |
| Date of publication | 2015 |
| Code Programming Language | R |
| Comment |
Copyright Researcher 2021