High Dimensional Factor Analysis with Weak Factors

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Choi, Jungjun, Yuan, Ming
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Choi, Jungjun
Yuan, Ming
author_facet Choi, Jungjun
Yuan, Ming
contents This paper studies the principal components (PC) estimator for high dimensional approximate factor models with weak factors in that the factor loading ($\boldsymbolΛ^0$) scales sublinearly in the number $N$ of cross-section units, i.e., $\boldsymbolΛ^{0\top} \boldsymbolΛ^0 / N^α$ is positive definite in the limit for some $α\in (0,1)$. While the consistency and asymptotic normality of these estimates are by now well known when the factors are strong, i.e., $α=1$, the statistical properties for weak factors remain less explored. Here, we show that the PC estimator maintains consistency and asymptotical normality for any $α\in(0,1)$, provided suitable conditions regarding the dependence structure in the noise are met. This complements earlier result by Onatski (2012) that the PC estimator is inconsistent when $α=0$, and the more recent work by Bai and Ng (2023) who established the asymptotic normality of the PC estimator when $α\in (1/2,1)$. Our proof strategy integrates the traditional eigendecomposition-based approach for factor models with leave-one-out analysis similar in spirit to those used in matrix completion and other settings. This combination allows us to deal with factors weaker than the former and at the same time relax the incoherence and independence assumptions often associated with the later.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_05789
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle High Dimensional Factor Analysis with Weak Factors
Choi, Jungjun
Yuan, Ming
Econometrics
Statistics Theory
Methodology
This paper studies the principal components (PC) estimator for high dimensional approximate factor models with weak factors in that the factor loading ($\boldsymbolΛ^0$) scales sublinearly in the number $N$ of cross-section units, i.e., $\boldsymbolΛ^{0\top} \boldsymbolΛ^0 / N^α$ is positive definite in the limit for some $α\in (0,1)$. While the consistency and asymptotic normality of these estimates are by now well known when the factors are strong, i.e., $α=1$, the statistical properties for weak factors remain less explored. Here, we show that the PC estimator maintains consistency and asymptotical normality for any $α\in(0,1)$, provided suitable conditions regarding the dependence structure in the noise are met. This complements earlier result by Onatski (2012) that the PC estimator is inconsistent when $α=0$, and the more recent work by Bai and Ng (2023) who established the asymptotic normality of the PC estimator when $α\in (1/2,1)$. Our proof strategy integrates the traditional eigendecomposition-based approach for factor models with leave-one-out analysis similar in spirit to those used in matrix completion and other settings. This combination allows us to deal with factors weaker than the former and at the same time relax the incoherence and independence assumptions often associated with the later.
title High Dimensional Factor Analysis with Weak Factors
topic Econometrics
Statistics Theory
Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.05789