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An unusual stochastic order relation with some applications in sampling and epidemic theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2016

Claude Lefevre*
Affiliation:
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Philippe Picard*
Affiliation:
Université de Lyon 1
*
Postal address: Institut de Statistique, C.P. 210, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgique.
∗∗Postal address: Mathématiques Appliquées, Université de Lyon 1, 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France.

Abstract

One expects, intuitively, that the total damage caused by an epidemic increases, in a certain sense, with the infection intensity exerted by the infectives during their lifelength. The original object of the present work is to make precise in which probabilistic terms such a statement does indeed hold true, when the spread of the disease is described by a collective Reed–Frost model and the global cost is represented by the final size and severity. Surprisingly, this problem leads us to introduce an order relation for -valued random variables, unusual in the literature, based on the descending factorial moments. Further applications of the ordering occur when comparing certain sampling procedures through the number of un-sampled individuals. In particular, it is used to reinforce slightly comparison results obtained earlier for two such samplings.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Applied Probability Trust 1993 

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