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Michael Lugo
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What m minimizes E(|m-EX|^3) for a random variable X?

Let X be a random variable. Then E(|m-EX|^1) is minimized when (as a function of m) when m is the median of X, and E(|m-EX|^2) is minimized when m is the mean of x.

A couple weeks ago in a technical stretch of a proof involving the Lyapunov condition for the central limit theorem I ended up with the expression E(|m-EX|^3). Does this statistic have a name, or any nice properties?

Michael Lugo
  • 14k
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  • 58
  • 80