Empirical Bayes estimation in the case of exponential reliability

The empirical Bayes estimate is derived for the failure rate parameter in the exponential distribution by considering a spline density estimate for the prior density function of the parameter. The reliability function is also estimated either by using the empirical Bayes estimate of the parameter, or by obtaining the expectation of the reliability function. Numerical examples (computerized simulation) are introduced to compare the performance of this estimate with the pure (or classical) Bayes estimates obtained using symmetrical triangular and gamma prior distributions. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Limited.