Proof of least Squares estimators

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julion
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Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster!
Just having some trouble with something..Im probably just looking at it the wrong way, but I was wondering if anyone could help me with this..

Im trying to prove that by choosing b0 and b1 to minimize
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7/partas.jpg
you obtain the least squares estimators, namely:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/3641/partbx.jpg

also just wondering how you can prove that OLS minimizes the sum of squares function.
I know it has something to do with second derivatives, but I am a bit stuck.
Thanks!
 
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It's a standard maximization problem. Set up the sum of squared errors (SSE), differentiate with respect to beta, set to zero, solve for beta. For a maximum, verify that the second derivative at the beta value you found in the first step is negative.
 
julion said:
Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster!
Just having some trouble with something..Im probably just looking at it the wrong way, but I was wondering if anyone could help me with this..

Im trying to prove that by choosing b0 and b1 to minimize
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7/partas.jpg
you obtain the least squares estimators, namely:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/3641/partbx.jpg

also just wondering how you can prove that OLS minimizes the sum of squares function.
I know it has something to do with second derivatives, but I am a bit stuck.
Thanks!

could you expand how to do that with a little bit more help please?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Treat

[tex] S(b_0, b_1) = \sum_{i=1}^n \left(y_i - (b_0 + b_1 x_i)\right)^2[/tex]

as a function of [tex]b_0[/tex] and [tex]b_1[/tex], and solve this system of equations - the solutions will give the formulas for the estimates of slope and intercept.

[tex] \begin{align*}<br /> \frac{\partial S}{\partial b_0} & = 0\\<br /> \frac{\partial S}{\partial b_1} & = 0<br /> \end{align*}[/tex]