Comparison of Parametric and Semi-Parametric Binary Response Models

A Bayesian semi-parametric estimation of the binary response model using Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms is proposed. The performances of the parametric and semi-parametric models are presented. The mean squared errors, receiver operating characteristic curve, and the marginal effect are used as the model selection criteria. Simulated data and Monte Carlo experiments show that unless the binary data is extremely unbalanced the semi-parametric and parametric models perform equally well. However, if the data is extremely unbalanced the maximum likelihood estimation does not converge whereas the Bayesian algorithms do. An application is also presented.