Rates of Convergence in Empirical Bayes Estimation Problems: Continuous Case

In this paper we construct sequences of estimators for a density function and its derivatives, which are not assumed to be uniformly bounded, using classes of kernel functions. Utilizing these estimators, a sequence of empirical Bayes estimators is proposed. It is found that this sequence is asymptotically optimal in the sense of Robbins (Ann. Math. Statist. 35 (1964) 1-20). The rates of convergence of the Bayes risks associated with the proposed empirical Bayes estimators are obtained. It is noted that the exact rate is $n^{-q}$ with $q \leqq \frac{1}{3}$. An example is given and an explicit kernel function is indicated.