Estimation in the 2-parameter exponential distribution with prior information

This paper proposes a class of estimators for the scale parameter and for the mean of a 2-parameter exponential distribution, which is important in life testing and reliability theory, given a prior estimate of the scale parameter. The class of estimators for the scale parameter is motivated by the work of Jani (1991). These estimators have smaller mean square error than the classical estimators for all values of the location parameter, and for values of the scale parameter in a neighborhood of the prior estimate. Numerical computations indicate that certain of these estimators substantially improve the classical estimators for values of the scale parameter near the prior estimate, especially for small sample sizes