Polynomial factor models: non-iterative estimation via method-of-moments

Florian Schuberth, Rebecca Büchner, Karin Schermelleh-Engel, Theo K. Dijkstra

Research output: Contribution to conferenceAbstractAcademic

Abstract

We introduce a non-iterative method-of-moments estimator for non-linear latent variable (LV) models. Under the assumption of joint normality of all exogenous variables, we use the corrected moments of linear combinations of the observed indicators (proxies) to obtain consistent path coefficient and factor loading estimates. However, the estimation also works under milder assumptions. Besides providing the theoretical background, we run a Monte Carlo simulation to compare our approach to the Latent Moderated Structural Equations (LMS), a maximum likelihood estimator which serves as a benchmark. In this context, we use a single equation with two LVs, their quadratic terms and one interaction term. Moreover, we vary the sample size, the number of indicators, the factor loadings, and the correlation between the two exogenous
single LVs. The results show that our approach is promising, in particular in situation where the sample size is small and the number of indicators is large. Although we have investigated only a simple model in our study, it is straightforward to extend our approach to deal with an arbitrary number of recursive equations containing an arbitrary number of factors, interaction,
and higher-order terms.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 17 Mar 2017
EventMeeting of the Working Group Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) 2017 - Congress Centre "Het Pand", University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
Duration: 16 Mar 201717 Mar 2017

Conference

ConferenceMeeting of the Working Group Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) 2017
Abbreviated titleSEM 2017
Country/TerritoryBelgium
CityGhent
Period16/03/1717/03/17

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