Consistency of Normal Distribution Based Pseudo Maximum Likelihood Estimates When Data Are Missing at Random.

This paper shows that, when variables with missing values are linearly related to observed variables, the normal-distribution-based pseudo MLEs are still consistent. The population distribution may be unknown while the missing data process can follow an arbitrary missing at random mechanism. Enough details are provided for the bivariate case so that readers having taken a course in statistics/probability can fully understand the development. Sufficient conditions for the consistency of the MLEs in higher dimensions are also stated, while the details are omitted.