Abstract
This paper focuses on a performance comparison of semiparametric Tobit estimators. Firstly, a conditional expectation version of Horowitz's distribution‐free least‐squares estimator is proposed, together with a short description of the other estimators considered in the later Monte Carlo experiment. Then, a performance comparison of the following selected estimators is made through a Monte Carlo experiment: the standard Tobit maximum‐likelihood estimator, the Buckley–James estimator, Horowitz's distribution‐free least‐squares estimator, a conditional version of Horowitz's estimator and Powell's least absolute deviations estimator. An empirical example of Engel curve estimation with zero expenditures follows.

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