k-th record estimator of the scale parameter of the α-stable distribution

Various techniques of scale parameter estimation have been proposed in the case of alpha stable distributions. In the paper, the authors present an estimation technique that involves the k-th record theory. Although this theory is over 40 years old, its implementation in the classical extreme value theory – being the other cornerstone of the presented approach – is quite new, and tempting. Several theoretical properties of the introduced scale parameter estimators are presented. With the use of Monte Carlo methods, a comparative analysis is performed between the approach based on k-th records and approaches based on Hill’s and Pickands’ estimators. Additionally, the paper uses a real-life data set to illustrate how to effectively apply the k-th record estimator of the scale parameter. The research indicates several advantages of the k-th record approach over its other counterparts, especially when dealing with incomplete information about the underlying sample.