We consider the exponential model {f(⋅,θ):θ∈(0,∞)}, where
f(x,θ)=θe−θx for x⩾0
We observe an i.i.d. sample X1,…,Xn from the model.
(a) Compute the maximum likelihood estimator θ^MLE for θ. What is the limit in distribution of n(θ^MLE−θ) ?
(b) Consider the Bayesian setting and place a Gamma(α,β),α,β>0, prior for θ with density
π(θ)=Γ(α)βαθα−1exp(−βθ) for θ>0
where Γ is the Gamma function satisfying Γ(α+1)=αΓ(α) for all α>0. What is the posterior distribution for θ ? What is the Bayes estimator θ^π for the squared loss?
(c) Show that the Bayes estimator is consistent. What is the limiting distribution of n(θ^π−θ) ?
[You may use results from the course, provided you state them clearly.]