Abstract
We consider smooth estimation of the conditional quantile process in linear models using penalized splines. For linear quantile regression problems, usually separate models are fitted at a finite number of quantile levels and then information from different quantiles is combined in interpreting the results. We propose a smoothing method based on penalized splines that computes the conditional quantiles all at the same time. We consider both fixed-knots and increasing-knots asymptotics of the estimator and show that it converges to a multivariate Gaussian process. Simulations show that smoothing can result in more accurate estimation of the conditional quantiles. The method is further illustrated on a real data set. Empirically (although not theoretically) we observe that the crossing quantile curves problem can often disappear using the smoothed estimator.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-21 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Journal of Multivariate Analysis |
Volume | 141 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2015 |