Randomization empirical processes

This article creates a link between two well-established fields in mathematical statistics: empirical processes and inference based on randomization via algebraic groups. To this end, a broadly applicable conditional weak convergence theorem is developed for empirical processes that are based on randomized observations. Random elements of an algebraic group are applied to the data vectors from which the randomized version of a statistic is derived. Combining a variant of the functional delta-method with a suitable studentization of the statistic, asymptotically exact hypothesis tests can be deduced, while the finite sample exactness property under group-invariant sub-hypotheses is preserved. The methodology is exemplified with three examples: the Pearson correlation coefficient, a Mann-Whitney effect based on right-censored paired data, and a competing risks analysis. The practical usefulness of the approaches is assessed through simulation studies and an application to data from patients suffering from diabetic retinopathy.