Wavelet density estimation for weighted data

We consider the estimation of a density function on the basis of a random sample from a weighted distribution. We propose linear and nonlinear wavelet density estimators, and provide their asymptotic formulae for mean integrated squared error. In particular, we derive an analogue of the asymptotic formula of the mean integrated square error in the context of kernel density estimators for weighted data, admitting an expansion with distinct squared bias and variance components. For nonlinear wavelet density estimators, unlike the analogous situation for kernel or linear wavelet density estimators, this asymptotic formula of the mean integrated square error is relatively unaffected by assumptions of continuity, and it is available for densities which are smooth only in a piecewise sense. We illustrate the behavior of the proposed linear and nonlinear wavelet density estimators in finite sample situations both in simulations and on a real-life dataset. Comparisons with a kernel density estimator are also given. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.