STOCHASTIC COMPARISONS OF PARALLEL SYSTEMS WHEN COMPONENTS HAVE PROPORTIONAL HAZARD RATES

Abstract

Let X1, … , Xn be independent random variables with Xi having survival function Fλi, i = 1, … , n, and let Y1, … ,Yn be a random sample with common population survival distribution F, where c = ∑i=1nλi/n. Let Xn:n and Yn:n denote the lifetimes of the parallel systems consisting of these components, respectively. It is shown that Xn:n is greater than Yn:n in terms of likelihood ratio order. It is also proved that the sample range Xn:n − X1:n is larger than Yn:n − Y1:n according to reverse hazard rate ordering. These two results strengthen and generalize the results in Dykstra, Kochar, and Rojo [6] and Kochar and Rojo [11], respectively.