Date of Award
4-20-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Mathematics
First Advisor
Paul Kvam
Second Advisor
Saif Mehkari
Abstract
Small businesses, particularly restaurants, play a crucial role in the economy by generating employment opportunities, boosting tourism, and contributing to the local economy. However, accurately estimating their lifetimes can be challenging due to the presence of length bias, which occurs when the likelihood of sampling any particular restaurant's closure is influenced by its duration in operation. To address the issue, this study conducts goodness-of-fit tests on exponential/gamma family distributions and employs the Kaplan-Meier method to more accurately estimate the average lifetime of restaurants in Carytown. By providing insights into the challenges of estimating the lifetimes of small businesses, this study contributes to our understanding of the broader economic impact of these businesses and the development of policies that support small businesses.
Recommended Citation
Li, Simeng, "Length Bias Estimation of Small Businesses Lifetime" (2023). Honors Theses. 1693.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1693