https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2007-00219-y
Parameter estimation for power-law distributions by maximum likelihood methods
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3, NP, UK
Corresponding author: a heiko.bauke@physics.ox.ac.uk
Received:
13
April
2007
Revised:
10
June
2007
Published online:
10
August
2007
Distributions following a power-law are an ubiquitous phenomenon. Methods for determining the exponent of a power-law tail by graphical means are often used in practice but are intrinsically unreliable. Maximum likelihood estimators for the exponent are a mathematically sound alternative to graphical methods.
PACS: 02.50.Tt – Inference methods / 89.75.-k – Complex systems
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2007
