Generalized integer-valued random coefficient for a first order structure autoregressive (RCINAR) process

A random coefficient autoregressive process for count data based on a generalized thinning operator is presented. Existence and weak stationarity conditions for these models are established. For the particular case of the (generalized) binomial thinning, it is proved that the necessary and sufficient conditions for weak stationarity are the same as those for continuous-valued AR(1) processes. These kinds of processes are appropriate for modelling non-linear integer-valued time series. They allow for over-dispersion and are appropriate when including covariates. Model parameters estimators are calculated and their properties studied analytically and/or through simulation.     

A mixture integer-valued ARCH model

We propose a mixture integer-valued ARCH model for modeling integer-valued time series with overdispersion. The model consists of a mixture of K stationary or non-stationary integer-valued ARCH components. The advantages of the mixture model over the single-component model include the ability to handle multimodality and non-stationary components. The necessary and sufficient first- and second-order stationarity conditions, the necessary arbitrary-order stationarity conditions, and the autocorrelation function are derived. The estimation of parameters is done through an EM algorithm, and the model is selected by three information criterions, whose performances are studied via simulations. Finally, the model is applied to a real dataset.     

Zero-inflated compound Poisson distributions in integer-valued GARCH models

In this paper we introduce a wide class of integer-valued stochastic processes that allows to take into consideration, simultaneously, relevant characteristics observed in count data namely zero inflation, overdispersion and conditional heteroscedasticity. This class includes, in particular, the compound Poisson, the zero-inflated Poisson and the zero-inflated negative binomial INGARCH models, recently proposed in literature. The main probabilistic analysis of this class of processes is here developed. Precisely, first- and second-order stationarity conditions are derived, the autocorrelation function is deduced and the strict stationarity is established in a large subclass. We also analyse in a particular model the existence of higher-order moments and deduce the explicit form for the first four cumulants, as well as its skewness and kurtosis.     

Testing for separability of spatial–temporal covariance functions

Most applications in spatial statistics involve modeling of complex spatial–temporal dependency structures, and many of the problems of space and time modeling can be overcome by using separable processes. This subclass of spatial–temporal processes has several advantages, including rapid fitting and simple extensions of many techniques developed and successfully used in time series and classical geostatistics. In particular, a major advantage of these processes is that the covariance matrix for a realization can be expressed as the Kronecker product of two smaller matrices that arise separately from the temporal and purely spatial processes, and hence its determinant and inverse are easily determinable. However, these separable models are not always realistic, and there are no formal tests for separability of general spatial–temporal processes. We present here a formal method to test for separability. Our approach can be also used to test for lack of stationarity of the process. The beauty of our approach is that by using spectral methods the mechanics of the test can be reduced to a simple two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedure. The approach we propose is based on only one realization of the spatial–temporal process.We apply the statistical methods proposed here to test for separability and stationarity of spatial–temporal ozone fields using data provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).     

Penalized likelihood inference in extreme value analyses

Models for extreme values are usually based on detailed asymptotic argument, for which strong ergodic assumptions such as stationarity, or prescribed perturbations from stationarity, are required. In most applications of extreme value modelling such assumptions are not satisfied, but the type of departure from stationarity is either unknown or complex, making asymptotic calculations unfeasible. This has led to various approaches in which standard extreme value models are used as building blocks for conditional or local behaviour of processes, with more general statistical techniques being used at the modelling stage to handle the non-stationarity. This paper presents another approach in this direction based on penalized likelihood. There are some advantages to this particular approach: the method has a simple interpretation; computations for estimation are relatively straightforward using standard algorithms; and a simple reinterpretation of the model enables broader inferences, such as confidence intervals, to be obtained using MCMC methodology. Methodological details together with applications to both athletics and environmental data are given.     

Dynamic Conditional Correlation: On Properties and Estimation

This article addresses some of the issues that arise with the Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) model. It is proven that the DCC large system estimator can be inconsistent, and that the traditional interpretation of the DCC correlation parameters can result in misleading conclusions. Here, we suggest a more tractable DCC model, called the cDCC model. The cDCC model allows for a large system estimator that is heuristically proven to be consistent. Sufficient stationarity conditions for cDCC processes of interest are established. The empirical performances of the DCC and cDCC large system estimators are compared via simulations and applications to real data.     

Signed compound poisson integer-valued GARCH processes

Abstract

We propose signed compound Poisson integer-valued GARCH processes for the modeling of the difference of count time series data. We investigate the theoretical properties of these processes and we state their ergodicity and stationarity under mild conditions. We discuss the conditional maximum likelihood estimator when the series appearing in the difference are INGARCH with geometric distribution and explore its finite sample properties in a simulation study. Two real data examples illustrate this methodology.     

F-tests for seasonal differencing with a break-point

The classification between stochastic trend stationarity and deterministic broken trend stationarity is important because incorrect inferences can follow if a stationary series with a broken trend is incorrectly classified as integrated. In this paper, we consider joint tests for regular and seasonal unit roots null hypothesis against broken trend stationarity alternatives where the location of the break is known or unknown. Based on the F-test proposed by Hasza and Fuller (1982, Ann. Statist. 10, 1209–1216), we develop testing procedures for distinguishing these two types of process. The asymptotic distributions of test statistics are derived as functions of Wiener processes. A response surface regression analysis directed to relating the finite sample distributions and the breaking position is studied. Simulation experiments suggest that the power of the test is reasonable. The testing procedure is illustrated by the Canadian consumer price index series.     

On Local Power Properties of Frequency Domain‐based Tests for Stationarity

A framework for the asymptotic analysis of local power properties of tests of stationarity in time series analysis is developed. Appropriate sequences of locally stationary processes are defined that converge at a controlled rate to a limiting stationary process as the length of the time series increases. Different interesting classes of local alternatives to the null hypothesis of stationarity are then considered, and the local power properties of some recently proposed, frequency domain‐based tests for stationarity are investigated. Some simulations illustrate our theoretical findings.     

A note on non-negative continuous time processes

Summary.  Recently there has been much work on developing models that are suitable for analysing the volatility of a continuous time process. One general approach is to define a volatility process as the convolution of a kernel with a non-decreasing Lévy process, which is non-negative if the kernel is non-negative. Within the framework of time continuous autoregressive moving average (CARMA) processes, we derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the kernel to be non-negative. This condition is in terms of the Laplace transform of the CARMA kernel, which has a simple form. We discuss some useful consequences of this result and delineate the parametric region of stationarity and non-negative kernel for some lower order CARMA models.     

Measuring serial dependence in categorical time series

The analysis of time-indexed categorical data is important in many fields, e.g., in telecommunication network monitoring, manufacturing process control, ecology, etc. Primary interest is in detecting and measuring serial associations and dependencies in such data. For cardinal time series analysis, autocorrelation is a convenient and informative measure of serial association. Yet, for categorical time series analysis an analogous convenient measure and corresponding concepts of weak stationarity have not been provided. For two categorical variables, several ways of measuring association have been suggested. This paper reviews such measures and investigates their properties in a serial context. We discuss concepts of weak stationarity of a categorical time series, in particular of stationarity in association measures. Serial association and weak stationarity are studied in the class of discrete ARMA processes introduced by Jacobs and Lewis (J. Time Ser. Anal. 4(1):19–36, 1983). An intrinsic feature of a time series is that, typically, adjacent observations are dependent. The nature of this dependence among observations of a time series is of considerable practical interest. Time series analysis is concerned with techniques for the analysis of this dependence. (Box et al. 1994p. 1)     

Variance Shifts,Structural Breaks,and Stationarity Tests

This article considers the problem of testing the null hypothesis of stochastic stationarity in time series characterized by variance shifts at some (known or unknown) point in the sample. It is shown that existing stationarity tests can be severely biased in the presence of such shifts, either oversized or undersized, with associated spurious power gains or losses, depending on the values of the breakpoint parameter and on the ratio of the prebreak to postbreak variance. Under the assumption of a serially independent Gaussian error term with known break date and known variance ratio, a locally best invariant (LBI) test of the null hypothesis of stationarity in the presence of variance shifts is then derived. Both the test statistic and its asymptotic null distribution depend on the breakpoint parameter and also, in general, on the variance ratio. Modifications of the LBI test statistic are proposed for which the limiting distribution is independent of such nuisance parameters and belongs to the family of Cramér–von Mises distributions. One such modification is particularly appealing in that it is simultaneously exact invariant to variance shifts and to structural breaks in the slope and/or level of the series. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that the power loss from using our modified statistics in place of the LBI statistic is not large, even in the neighborhood of the null hypothesis, and particularly for series with shifts in the slope and/or level. The tests are extended to cover the cases of weakly dependent error processes and unknown breakpoints. The implementation of the tests are illustrated using output, inflation, and exchange rate data series.     

Statistical Analysis Of Mixture Vector Autoregressive Models

In this paper, we reconsider the mixture vector autoregressive model, which was proposed in the literature for modelling non‐linear time series. We complete and extend the stationarity conditions, derive a matrix formula in closed form for the autocovariance function of the process and prove a result on stable vector autoregressive moving‐average representations of mixture vector autoregressive models. For these results, we apply techniques related to a Markovian representation of vector autoregressive moving‐average processes. Furthermore, we analyse maximum likelihood estimation of model parameters by using the expectation–maximization algorithm and propose a new iterative algorithm for getting the maximum likelihood estimates. Finally, we study the model selection problem and testing procedures. Several examples, simulation experiments and an empirical application based on monthly financial returns illustrate the proposed procedures.     

A class of correlated weighted Poisson processes

In this paper, we propose new classes of correlated Poisson processes and correlated weighted Poisson processes on the interval [0,1], which generalize the class of weighted Poisson processes defined by Balakrishnan and Kozubowski (2008), by incorporating a dependence structure between the standard uniform variables used in the construction. In this manner, we obtain another process that we refer to as correlated weighted Poisson process. Various properties of this process such as marginal and joint distributions, stationarity of the increments, moments, and the covariance function, are studied. The results are then illustrated through some examples, which include processes with length-biased Poisson, exponentially weighted Poisson, negative binomial, and COM-Poisson distributions.     

Fitting of self-exciting threshold autoregressive moving average nonlinear time-series model through genetic algorithm and development of out-of-sample forecasts

Self-exciting threshold autoregressive moving average (SETARMA) nonlinear time-series model is considered here. Sufficient conditions for invertibility and stationarity are derived. Parameter estimation algorithm is developed by employing real-coded genetic algorithm stochastic optimization procedure. A significant feature of the work done is that optimal out-of-sample forecasts up to three-step ahead and their forecast error variances are derived analytically. Relevant computer programs are written in statistical analysis system (SAS) and C. As an illustration, annual mackerel catch time-series data are considered. Forecast performance of the fitted model for hold-out data is evaluated by using Naive and Monte Carlo approaches. It is found that optimal out-of-sample forecast values are quite close to actual values and estimated variances are quite close to theoretical values. Superiority of the SETARMA model over the SETAR model for equal predictive ability through Diebold–Mariano test is also established.     

STATIONARITY OF DELAYED SUBORDINATORS

It is shown that, analogous to partial-sum processes in renewal theory, nondecreasing Lévy processes (subordinators) can be delayed such as to show a certain stationarity.     

GMM Estimation with persistent panel data: an application to production functions

This paper considers the estimation of Cobb-Douglas production functions using panel data covering a large sample of companies observed for a small number of time periods. GMM estimatorshave been found to produce large finite-sample biases when using the standard first-differenced estimator. These biases can be dramatically reduced by exploiting reasonable stationarity restrictions on the initial conditions process. Using data for a panel of R&Dperforming US manufacturing companies we find that the additional instruments used in our extended GMM estimator yield much more reasonable parameter estimates.     

Non-Parametric Testing of Conditional Variance Functions in Time Series

This paper proposes a non‐parametric test for examining hypotheses about variance functions under stationarity and ergodicity conditions. Special cases of nonlinear time series models are studied, and it is found that under mild conditions the test is consistent. Its power is examined in a simulation study.     

GMM Estimation with persistent panel data: an application to production functions

This paper considers the estimation of Cobb-Douglas production functions using panel data covering a large sample of companies observed for a small number of time periods. GMM estimatorshave been found to produce large finite-sample biases when using the standard first-differenced estimator. These biases can be dramatically reduced by exploiting reasonable stationarity restrictions on the initial conditions process. Using data for a panel of R&Dperforming US manufacturing companies we find that the additional instruments used in our extended GMM estimator yield much more reasonable parameter estimates.     

On first-order integer-valued autoregressive process with Katz family innovations

This paper considers the first-order integer-valued autoregressive (INAR) process with Katz family innovations. This family of INAR processes includes a broad class of INAR(1) processes with Poisson, negative binomial, and binomial innovations, respectively, featuring equi-, over-, and under-dispersion. Its probabilistic properties such as ergodicity and stationarity are investigated and the formula of the marginal mean and variance is provided. Further, a statistical process control procedure based on the cumulative sum control chart is considered to monitor autocorrelated count processes. A simulation and real data analysis are conducted for illustration.