The limiting bound of Efronʹs W-formula for hypothesis testing when a nuisance parameter is present only under the alternative

When testing a hypothesis with a nuisance parameter present only under the alternative, the maximum of a test statistic over the nuisance parameter space has been proposed. Different upper bounds for the one-sided tail probabilities of the maximum tests were provided. Davies (1977. Biometrika 64, 247–254) studied the problem when the parameter space is an interval, while Efron (1997. Biometrika 84, 143–157) considered the problem with some finite points of the parameter space and obtained a W-formula. We study the limiting bound of Efronʹs W-formula when the number of points in the parameter space goes to infinity. The conditions under which the limiting bound of the W-formula is identical to that of Davies are given. The results are also extended to two-sided tests. Examples are used to illustrate the conditions, including case-control genetic association studies. Efficient calculations of upper bounds for the tail probability with finite points in the parameter space are described.