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Exact Maximum Likelihood Estimate of a Finite Population Size

Capture/Recapture Sequential Sample Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2009

Jose Galvão Leite ,
Jorge Oishi  and
Carlos Alberto de Bragança Pereira
Jose Galvão Leite
Affiliation:
IME–Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 20570–01498 São Paulo, Brazil
Jorge Oishi
Affiliation:
IME–Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 20570–01498 São Paulo, Brazil
Carlos Alberto de Bragança Pereira
Affiliation:
IME–Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 20570–01498 São Paulo, Brazil
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Abstract

Using data obtained by the general capture/recapture sequential sampling process, an exact analytical expression for the maximum likelihood (ML) estimate of the population size, N, is introduced. As a consequence, it is shown that bounded likelihood functions have at most two maxima. For the simple one-by-one case the ML estimate is unique.

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Type
Articles
Information
Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , April 1987 , pp. 225 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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