The Ordinary Least Eigenvalues Estimator

Abstract: We propose a rate optimal estimator for the linear regression model on network data with interacted (unobservable) individual effects. The estimator achieves a faster rate of convergence $N$ compared to the standard estimators' $\sqrt{N}$ rate and is efficient in cases that we discuss. We observe that the individual effects alter the eigenvalue distribution of the data's matrix representation in significant and distinctive ways. We subsequently offer a correction for the \textit{ordinary least squares}' objective function to attenuate the statistical noise that arises due to the individual effects, and in some cases, completely eliminate it. The new estimator is asymptotically normal and we provide a valid estimator for its asymptotic covariance matrix. While this paper only considers models accounting for first-order interactions between individual effects, our estimation procedure is naturally extendable to higher-order interactions and more general specifications of the error terms.