A Note on Random Effects Growth Curve Models

The robustness of regression coefficient estimator is a hot topic in regression analysis all the while. Since the response observations are not independent, it is extraordinarily difficult to study this problem for random effects growth curve models, especially when the design matrix is non-full of rank. The paper not only gives the necessary and sufficient conditions under which the generalized least square estimate is identical to the the best linear unbiased estimate when error covariance matrix is an arbitrary positive definite matrix, but also obtains a concise condition under which the generalized least square estimate is identical to the maximum likelihood estimate when the design matrix is full or non-full of rank respectively. In addition, by using of the obtained results, we get some corollaries for the the generalized least square estimate be equal to the maximum likelihood estimate under several common error covariance matrix assumptions. Illustrative examples for the case that the design matrix is full or non-full of rank are also given.