Model averaging estimation for high-dimensional covariance matrices with a network structure

In this paper, we develop a model averaging method to estimate a high-dimensional covariance matrix, where the candidate models are constructed by different orders of polynomial functions. We propose a Mallows-type model averaging criterion and select the weights by minimizing this criterion, which is an unbiased estimator of the expected in-sample squared error plus a constant. Then, we prove the asymptotic optimality of the resulting model average covariance estimators. Finally, we conduct numerical simulations and a case study on Chinese airport network structure data to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed approaches.