B0980
Title: Distributed heterogeneity learning for generalized partially linear models with spatially varying coefficients
Authors: Shan Yu - University of Virginia (United States) [presenting]
Guannan Wang - College of William & Mary (United States)
Lily Wang - George Mason University (United States)
Abstract: Spatial heterogeneity is of great importance in social, economic, and environmental science studies. The spatially varying coefficient model (SVCM) is a popular and effective spatial regression technique to address spatial heterogeneity. However, accounting for heterogeneity comes at the cost of reducing model parsimony. To balance flexibility and parsimony, a class of generalized partially linear spatially varying coefficient models is developed which allows the inclusion of both constant and spatially varying effects of covariates. Another significant challenge in many applications comes from the enormous size of the spatial datasets collected from modern technologies. To tackle this challenge, a novel distributed heterogeneity learning (DHL) method is designed based on bivariate spline smoothing over a triangulation of the domain. The proposed DHL algorithm has a simple, scalable, and communication-efficient implementation scheme that can almost achieve linear speedup. In addition, rigorous theoretical support is provided for the DHL framework. it is proven that the DHL linear estimators are asymptotic normal and the DHL spline estimators reach the same convergence rate as the global spline estimators obtained using the entire dataset. The proposed DHL method is evaluated through extensive simulation studies and analyses of the U.S. loan application data.
