mxl_bhhh_parallel: BHHH (outer product of gradients) information matrix for...

In choicer: Discrete Choice Models for Economic Applications

BHHH (outer product of gradients) information matrix for Mixed Logit

Description

Computes the BHHH approximation to the observed information matrix for the Mixed Logit model: H_{BHHH} = \sum_i w_i \cdot s_i s_i^\top, where s_i is the per-individual score (gradient of \log \bar{P}_i). This outer product of gradients (OPG) estimator provides an alternative to the analytical Hessian for standard error computation that scales to large problems where the analytical Hessian is infeasible (e.g., many alternatives or simulation draws).

Usage

mxl_bhhh_parallel(
  theta,
  X,
  W,
  alt_idx,
  choice_idx,
  M,
  weights,
  eta_draws,
  rc_dist,
  rc_correlation = TRUE,
  rc_mean = FALSE,
  use_asc = TRUE,
  include_outside_option = FALSE,
  gen_seed = -1L,
  gen_scramble = 1L,
  gen_S = 0L
)

Arguments

theta	vector collecting model parameters (beta, mu, L, delta (ASCs))
X	design matrix for covariates with fixed coefficients; sum(M_i) x K_x
W	design matrix for covariates with random coefficients; sum(M_i) x K_w or J x K_w
alt_idx	sum(M) x 1 vector with indices of alternatives within each choice set; 1-based indexing
choice_idx	N x 1 vector with indices of chosen alternatives; 1-based indexing relative to X; 0 is used if include_outside_option=True
M	N x 1 vector with number of alternatives for each individual
weights	N x 1 vector with weights for each observation
eta_draws	Array with choice situation draws; K_w x S x N
rc_dist	K_w x 1 integer vector indicating distribution of random coefficients: 0 = normal, 1 = log-normal
rc_correlation	whether random coefficients should be correlated
rc_mean	whether to estimate means for random coefficients.
use_asc	whether to use alternative-specific constants.
include_outside_option	whether to include outside option normalized to 0 (if so, the outside option is not included in the data)
gen_seed	Integer master seed for the on-the-fly Halton generator. < 0 (default) uses the materialized eta_draws cube; >= 0 generates draws on the fly from this seed.
gen_scramble	Integer scramble mode for on-the-fly generation: 0 = identity permutations (plain Halton, compat), 1 = seeded position-wise digit permutations.
gen_S	Integer number of draws per individual, used only when gen_seed >= 0.

Value

n_params x n_params PSD matrix representing the observed information matrix estimated by the outer product of gradients (same sign convention as the negated Hessian returned by mxl_hessian_parallel, so it can be inverted directly to obtain vcov).

Note

The BHHH/OPG estimator is only asymptotically equivalent to the Hessian-based information matrix at the true MLE. In finite samples it can underestimate standard errors, particularly when the model is mis-specified or away from the optimum.

Examples

library(data.table)
set.seed(42)
N <- 50; J <- 3
dt <- data.table(id = rep(1:N, each = J), alt = rep(1:J, N))
dt[, `:=`(x1 = rnorm(.N), w1 = rnorm(.N))]
dt[, choice := 0L]
dt[, choice := sample(c(1L, rep(0L, J - 1))), by = id]
d <- prepare_mxl_data(dt, "id", "alt", "choice", "x1", "w1")
eta <- get_halton_normals(50, d$N, ncol(d$W))
theta <- rep(0, ncol(d$X) + ncol(d$W) + nrow(d$alt_mapping) - 1)
H <- choicer:::mxl_bhhh_parallel(theta, d$X, d$W, d$alt_idx, d$choice_idx,
  d$M, d$weights, eta, rc_dist = rep(0L, ncol(d$W)),
  rc_correlation = FALSE, rc_mean = FALSE)
dim(H)

choicer documentation built on Sept. 5, 2026, 1:07 a.m.