Efficient algorithm for computing maximum likelihood estimates in linear transformation models

Abstract

Linear transformation models, which have been extensively studied in survival analysis, include the two special cases: the proportional hazards model and the proportional odds model. Nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation is usually used to derive the efficient estimators. However, due to the large number of nuisance parameters, calculation of the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator is difficult in practice, except for the proportional hazards model. We propose an efficient algorithm for computing the maximum likelihood estimates, where the dimensionality of the parameter space is dramatically reduced so that only a finite number of equations need to be solved. Moreover, the asymptotic variance is automatically estimated in the computing procedure. Extensive simulation studies indicate that the proposed algorithm works very well for linear transformation models. A real example is presented for an illustration of the new methodology. © 2006 American Statistical Association.