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Activity Number: 184 - New Research in Small Area Estimation
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Tuesday, August 4, 2020 : 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
Abstract #311108
Title: Unit-Level vs. Area-Level Small Area Estimators, Revisited
Author(s): Robert Fay*
Companies: Westat
Keywords: Pseudo-EBLUP; EBLUP; Fay-Herriot model; Survey regression estimator
Abstract:

Most small area models can broadly be classified as either a unit-level model or an area-level model. Both models have seen a number of practical applications. In a 2016 paper, Hidiroglou and You examined the performance of some unit- and area-level SAE procedures for samples from simulated populations, finding that unit-level estimators had a distinct advantage over area-level ones. A subsequent paper (Fay, 2018) showed that the Hidiroglou-You result was less clear over a wider choice of simulated hypothetical populations, particularly when a survey regression estimator was combined with the area-level model. This paper sharpens these results using a combination of simulation studies and asymptotic approximations to the mean-square errors to provide guidance on when one approach is more advantageous than the other.


Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

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