This function acts as a front end to dlmomco
and plmomco
to compute the hazard function \(h(x)\) or conditional failure rate. The function is defined by
$$h(x) = \frac{f(x)}{1 - F(x)}\mbox{,}$$
where \(f(x)\) is a probability density function and \(F(x)\) is the cumulative distribution function.
To help with intuitive understanding of what \(h(x)\) means (Ugarte and others, 2008), let \(\mathrm{d}x\) represent a small unit of measurement. Then the quantity \(h(x)\,\mathrm{d}x\) can be conceptualized as the approximate probability that random variable \(X\) takes on a value in the interval \([x, x+\mathrm{d}x]\).
Ugarte and others (2008) continue by stating that \(h(x)\) represents the instantaneous rate of death or failure at time \(x\), given the survival to time \(x\) has occurred. Emphasis is needed that \(h(x)\) is a rate of probability change and not a probability itself.