Penalized rank regression estimator with the smoothly clipped absolute deviation function

The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) has been a popular regression estimator with simultaneous variable selection. However, LASSO does not have the oracle property and its robust version is needed in the case of heavy-tailed errors or serious outliers. We propose a robust penalized regression estimator which provide a simultaneous variable selection and estimator. It is based on the rank regression and the non-convex penalty function, the smoothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) function which has the oracle property. The proposed method combines the robustness of the rank regression and the oracle property of the SCAD penalty. We develop an efficient algorithm to compute the proposed estimator that includes a SCAD estimate based on the local linear approximation and the tuning parameter of the penalty function. Our estimate can be obtained by the least absolute deviation method. We used an optimal tuning parameter based on the Bayesian information criterion and the cross validation method. Numerical simulation shows that the proposed estimator is robust and effective to analyze contaminated data.