Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood Estimation of the Weibull-Power Function Scale Parameter: A Loss-Function Comparison Study

Abstract

This study examines the estimation of the scale parameter of the Weibull-Power Function Distribution (WPFD) using both maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. Bayesian estimation is conducted under one informative Gamma prior with hyperparameters , as well as two non-informative priors: the uniform prior and Jeffreys’ prior. For each prior specification, Bayes estimators are derived under squared error, quadratic, and precautionary loss functions. Closed-form expressions for the posterior distributions and corresponding Bayes estimators are obtained. The finite-sample performance of the competing estimators is evaluated through a Monte Carlo simulation study based on 1000 replications. Estimator performance is assessed using mean squared error (MSE), bias, and coverage probability. The results indicate that all estimators are consistent, with bias and MSE decreasing as sample size increases. Across different prior specifications and parameter settings, the Bayesian estimator under the quadratic loss function consistently attains the lowest MSE, yielding reductions of approximately 10-20% relative to the maximum likelihood estimator in small and moderate samples. These findings suggest that Bayesian estimation under quadratic loss provides improved finite-sample efficiency for estimating the WPFD scale parameter, while maintaining asymptotic comparability with the maximum likelihood approach.