Adaptive smoothing spline estimator for the function-on-function linear regression model

In this paper, we propose an adaptive smoothing spline (AdaSS) estimator for the function-on-function linear regression model where each value of the response, at any domain point, depends on the full trajectory of the predictor. The AdaSS estimator is obtained by the optimization of an objective function with two spatially adaptive penalties, based on initial estimates of the partial derivatives of the regression coefficient function. This allows the proposed estimator to adapt more easily to the true coefficient function over regions of large curvature and not to be undersmoothed over the remaining part of the domain. A novel evolutionary algorithm is developed ad hoc to obtain the optimization tuning parameters. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations have been carried out to compare the AdaSS estimator with competitors that have already appeared in the literature before. The results show that our proposal mostly outperforms the competitor in terms of estimation and prediction accuracy. Lastly, those advantages are illustrated also in two real-data benchmark examples. The AdaSS estimator is implemented in the R package adass, openly available online on CRAN. © 2022, The Author(s).