Extended empirical likelihood

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The empirical likelihood method (Owen, 2001) is a powerful non-parametric method of statistical inference with many applications. However, the empirical likelihood confidence region suffers from an under-coverage problem in that its coverage probability tends to be lower than the nominal level. The problem is particularly serious in small sample and multidimensional situations. It is partly due to the rate at which the empirical likelihood statistic converges to the limiting chi-square random variable, and partly due to the convex hull constraint embedded in the formulation of the empirical likelihood (Tsao, 2013). Existing methods for the under-coverage problem can be roughly divided into two types: those aimed at increasing the rate of convergence and those targeting the convex hull constraint. The extended empirical likelihood of Tsao (2013) and Tsao and Wu (2013) is in the latter category. It is motivated by geometrically expanding the original empirical likelihood confidence regions while preserving their data driven shape. It is a leading method for dealing with the under-coverage problem.