On the hazard rate of the lognormal distribution

Abstract

It is argued that plots of the hazard rate for the lognormal random variable which have appeared in some recent literature are incorrect and/or misleading; the hazard rate always begins at zero, rises to a maximum, then decreases very slowly to zero. An equation for the location of the maximum of the hazard rate is derived. The maximum lies in a finite interval for all positive values of the standard deviation of the associated normal random variable. Approximations that can be used to compute the hazard rate for parameter values outside of the usual range in the tables associated with the normal (Gaussian) random variable are presented.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>