A note on diagnostic checking of the double autoregressive model

The double autoregressive model finds its use in the modelling of conditional heteroscedasticity of time series data. In view of its growing popularity, the goodness-of-fit of the model is examined. The asymptotic distributions of the residual and squared residual autocorrelations are derived. Two test statistics are then constructed which can be used to measure the adequacy of the conditional mean and conditional variance components of a fitted model. Our goodness-of-fit tests out-perform other benchmark tests such as the Ljung–Box test in simulation studies. To illustrate the testing procedure, the model is fitted to the weekly log-return series of the Hang Seng Index.     

Identification of longitudinal biomarkers for survival by a score test derived from a joint model of longitudinal and competing risks data

In this paper, we consider joint modelling of repeated measurements and competing risks failure time data. For competing risks time data, a semiparametric mixture model in which proportional hazards model are specified for failure time models conditional on cause and a multinomial model for the marginal distribution of cause conditional on covariates. We also derive a score test based on joint modelling of repeated measurements and competing risks failure time data to identify longitudinal biomarkers or surrogates for a time to event outcome in competing risks data.     

Conditional Heteroscedasticity in Qualitative Response Models of Time Series: A Gibbs-Sampling Approach to the Bank Prime Rate

Previous time series applications of qualitative response models have ignored features of the data, such as conditional heteroscedasticity, that are routinely addressed in time series econometrics of financial data. This article addresses this issue by adding Markov-switching heteroscedasticity to a dynamic ordered probit model of discrete changes in the bank prime lending rate and estimating via the Gibbs sampler. The dynamic ordered probit model of Eichengreen, Watson, and Grossman allows for serial autocorrelation in probit analysis of a time series, and this article demonstrates the relative simplicity of estimating a dynamic ordered probit using the Gibbs sampler instead of the Eichengreen et al. maximum likelihood procedure. In addition, the extension to regime-switching parameters and conditional heteroscedasticity is easy to implement under Gibbs sampling. The article compares tests of goodness of fit between dynamic ordered probit models of the prime rate that have constant variance and conditional heteroscedasticity.     

The Gaussian Mixture Dynamic Conditional Correlation Model: Parameter Estimation,Value at Risk Calculation,and Portfolio Selection

A multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model with dynamic conditional correlations is proposed, in which the individual conditional volatilities follow exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models and the standardized innovations follow a mixture of Gaussian distributions. Inference on the model parameters and prediction of future volatilities are addressed by both maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation methods. Estimation of the Value at Risk of a given portfolio and selection of optimal portfolios under the proposed specification are addressed. The good performance of the proposed methodology is illustrated via Monte Carlo experiments and the analysis of the daily closing prices of the Dow Jones and NASDAQ indexes.     

Quantile Regression for Location‐Scale Time Series Models with Conditional Heteroscedasticity

This paper considers quantile regression for a wide class of time series models including autoregressive and moving average (ARMA) models with asymmetric generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity errors. The classical mean‐variance models are reinterpreted as conditional location‐scale models so that the quantile regression method can be naturally geared into the considered models. The consistency and asymptotic normality of the quantile regression estimator is established in location‐scale time series models under mild conditions. In the application of this result to ARMA‐generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models, more primitive conditions are deduced to obtain the asymptotic properties. For illustration, a simulation study and a real data analysis are provided.     

Negative binomial time series models based on expectation thinning operators

The study of count data time series has been active in the past decade, mainly in theory and model construction. There are different ways to construct time series models with a geometric autocorrelation function, and a given univariate margin such as negative binomial. In this paper, we investigate negative binomial time series models based on the binomial thinning and two other expectation thinning operators, and show how they differ in conditional variance or heteroscedasticity. Since the model construction is in terms of probability generating functions, typically, the relevant conditional probability mass functions do not have explicit forms. In order to do simulations, likelihood inference, graphical diagnostics and prediction, we use a numerical method for inversion of characteristic functions. We illustrate the numerical methods and compare the various negative binomial time series models for a real data example.     

The Message in Daily Exchange Rates: A Conditional-Variance Tale

Formal testing procedures confirm the presence of a unit root in the autoregressive polynomial of the univariate time series representation of daily exchange-rate data. The first differences of the logarithms of daily spot rates are approximately uncorrelated through time, and a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model with daily dummy variables and conditionally t-distributed errors is found to provide a good representation to the leptokurtosis and time-dependent conditional heteroscedasticity. The parameter estimates and characteristics of the models are found to be very similar for six different currencies. These apparent stylized facts carry over to weekly, fortnightly, and monthly data in which the degree of leptokurtosis and time-dependent heteroscedasticity is reduced as the length of the sampling interval increases.     

A Bayesian nonparametric Markovian model for non-stationary time series

Stationary time series models built from parametric distributions are, in general, limited in scope due to the assumptions imposed on the residual distribution and autoregression relationship. We present a modeling approach for univariate time series data, which makes no assumptions of stationarity, and can accommodate complex dynamics and capture non-standard distributions. The model for the transition density arises from the conditional distribution implied by a Bayesian nonparametric mixture of bivariate normals. This results in a flexible autoregressive form for the conditional transition density, defining a time-homogeneous, non-stationary Markovian model for real-valued data indexed in discrete time. To obtain a computationally tractable algorithm for posterior inference, we utilize a square-root-free Cholesky decomposition of the mixture kernel covariance matrix. Results from simulated data suggest that the model is able to recover challenging transition densities and non-linear dynamic relationships. We also illustrate the model on time intervals between eruptions of the Old Faithful geyser. Extensions to accommodate higher order structure and to develop a state-space model are also discussed.     

A nonparametric test of conditional autoregressive heteroscedasticity for threshold autoregressive models

Threshold autoregressive models are widely used in time‐series applications. When building or using such a model, it is important to know whether conditional heteroscedasticity exists. The authors propose a nonparametric test of this hypothesis. They develop the large‐sample theory of a test of nonlinear conditional heteroscedasticity adapted to nonlinear autoregressive models and study its finite‐sample properties through simulations. They also provide percentage points for carrying out this test, which is found to have very good power overall.     

Modelling Poisson marked point processes using bivariate mixture transition distributions

A class of bivariate continuous-discrete distributions is proposed to fit Poisson dynamic models in a single unified framework via bivariate mixture transition distributions (BMTDs). Potential advantages of this class over the current models include its ability to capture stretches, bursts and nonlinear patterns characterized by Internet network traffic, high-frequency financial data and many others. It models the inter-arrival times and the number of arrivals (marks) in a single unified model which benefits from the dependence structure of the data. The continuous marginal distributions of this class include as special cases the exponential, gamma, Weibull and Rayleigh distributions (for the inter-arrival times), whereas the discrete marginal distributions are geometric and negative binomial. The conditional distributions are Poisson and Erlang. Maximum-likelihood estimation is discussed and parameter estimates are obtained using an expectation–maximization algorithm, while the standard errors are estimated using the missing information principle. It is shown via real data examples that the proposed BMTD models appear to capture data features better than other competing models.     

Cure rate models: A unified approach

The authors propose a novel class of cure rate models for right‐censored failure time data. The class is formulated through a transformation on the unknown population survival function. It includes the mixture cure model and the promotion time cure model as two special cases. The authors propose a general form of the covariate structure which automatically satisfies an inherent parameter constraint and includes the corresponding binomial and exponential covariate structures in the two main formulations of cure models. The proposed class provides a natural link between the mixture and the promotion time cure models, and it offers a wide variety of new modelling structures as well. Within the Bayesian paradigm, a Markov chain Monte Carlo computational scheme is implemented for sampling from the full conditional distributions of the parameters. Model selection is based on the conditional predictive ordinate criterion. The use of the new class of models is illustrated with a set of real data involving a melanoma clinical trial.     

Models for Dependent Extremes Using Stable Mixtures

Abstract.  This paper unifies and extends results on a class of multivariate extreme value (EV) models studied by Hougaard, Crowder and Tawn. In these models, both unconditional and conditional distributions are themselves EV distributions, and all lower-dimensional marginals and maxima belong to the class. One interpretation of the models is as size mixtures of EV distributions, where the mixing is by positive stable distributions. A second interpretation is as exponential-stable location mixtures (for Gumbel) or as power-stable scale mixtures (for non-Gumbel EV distributions). A third interpretation is through a peaks over thresholds model with a positive stable intensity. The mixing variables are used as a modelling tool and for better understanding and model checking. We study EV analogues of components of variance models, and new time series, spatial and continuous parameter models for extreme values. The results are applied to data from a pitting corrosion investigation.     

Specification testing in nonparametric AR‐ARCH models

In this paper, an autoregressive time series model with conditional heteroscedasticity is considered, where both conditional mean and conditional variance function are modeled nonparametrically. Tests for the model assumption of independence of innovations from past time series values are suggested. Tests based on weighted L²‐distances of empirical characteristic functions are considered as well as a Cramér–von Mises‐type test. The asymptotic distributions under the null hypothesis of independence are derived, and the consistency against fixed alternatives is shown. A smooth autoregressive residual bootstrap procedure is suggested, and its performance is shown in a simulation study.     

Overnight and Daytime Stock-Return Dynamites on the London Stock Exchange: The Impacts of “Big Bang” and the 1987 Stock-Market Crash

We explore the time series properties of stock returns on the London Stock Exchange around the 1986 market restructuring (Big Bang) and the 1987 stock-market crash using a modified generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model. Using this general dynamic model, which allows (a) intradaily returns to have different impacts and persistence on stock-return volatility, (b) return effects on volatility to be asymmetric, and (c) intradaily returns to follow conditional distributions with different fourth moments, we uncover important changes in return dynamics and conditional fourth moments following Big Bang and the 1987 crash not reported before.     

Parameter Estimation Robust to Low-Frequency Contamination

We provide methods to robustly estimate the parameters of stationary ergodic short-memory time series models in the potential presence of additive low-frequency contamination. The types of contamination covered include level shifts (changes in mean) and monotone or smooth time trends, both of which have been shown to bias parameter estimates toward regions of persistence in a variety of contexts. The estimators presented here minimize trimmed frequency domain quasi-maximum likelihood (FDQML) objective functions without requiring specification of the low-frequency contaminating component. When proper sample size-dependent trimmings are used, the FDQML estimators are consistent and asymptotically normal, asymptotically eliminating the presence of any spurious persistence. These asymptotic results also hold in the absence of additive low-frequency contamination, enabling the practitioner to robustly estimate model parameters without prior knowledge of whether contamination is present. Popular time series models that fit into the framework of this article include autoregressive moving average (ARMA), stochastic volatility, generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH), and autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) models. We explore the finite sample properties of the trimmed FDQML estimators of the parameters of some of these models, providing practical guidance on trimming choice. Empirical estimation results suggest that a large portion of the apparent persistence in certain volatility time series may indeed be spurious. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Out-of-Sample Performance of Discrete-Time Spot Interest Rate Models

We provide a comprehensive analysis of the out-of-sample performance of a wide variety of spot rate models in forecasting the probability density of future interest rates. Although the most parsimonious models perform best in forecasting the conditional mean of many financial time series, we find that the spot rate models that incorporate conditional heteroscedasticity and excess kurtosis or heavy tails have better density forecasts. Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity significantly improves the modeling of the conditional variance and kurtosis, whereas regime switching and jumps improve the modeling of the marginal density of interest rates. Our analysis shows that the sophisticated spot rate models in the existing literature are important for applications involving density forecasts of interest rates.     

Heteroscedasticity in non-stationary time series,some Monte Carlo evidence

A frequent question raised by practitioners doing unit root tests is whether these tests are sensitive to the presence of heteroscedasticity. Theoretically this is not the case for a wide range of heteroscedastic models. However, for some limiting cases such as degenerate and integrated heteroscedastic processes it is not obvious whether this will have an effect. In this paper we report a Monte Carlo study analyzing the implications of various types of heteroscedasticity on three types of unit root tests: The usual Dickey-Fuller test, Phillips' (1987) semi-parametric test and finally a Dickey-Fuller type test using White's (1980) heteroscedasticity consistent standard errors. The sorts of heteroscedasticity we examine are the GARCH model of Bollerslev (1986) and the Exponential ARCH model of Nelson (1991). In particular, we call attention to situations where the conditional variances exhibit a high degree of persistence as is frequently observed for returns of financial time series, and the case where, in fact, the variance process for the first class of models becomes degenerate.     

Bootstrap entropy test for general location-scale time series models with heteroscedasticity

This study considers a goodness-of-fit test for location-scale time series models with heteroscedasticity, including a broad class of generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic-type models. In financial time series analysis, the correct identification of model innovations is crucial for further inferences in diverse applications such as risk management analysis. To implement a goodness-of-fit test, we employ the residual-based entropy test generated from the residual empirical process. Since this test often shows size distortions and is affected by parameter estimation, its bootstrap version is considered. It is shown that the bootstrap entropy test is weakly consistent, and thereby its usage is justified. A simulation study and data analysis are conducted by way of an illustration.     

A General Quantile Function Model for Economic and Financial Time Series

This article proposed a general quantile function model that covers both one- and multiple-dimensional models and that takes several existing models in the literature as its special cases. This article also developed a new uniform Bayesian framework for quantile function modelling and illustrated the developed approach through different quantile function models. Many distributions are defined explicitly only via their quanitle functions as the corresponding distribution or density functions do not have an explicit mathematical expression. Such distributions are rarely used in economic and financial modelling in practice. The developed methodology makes it more convenient to use these distributions in analyzing economic and financial data. Empirical applications to economic and financial time series and comparisons with other types of models and methods show that the developed method can be very useful in practice.     

Bayesian inference of the fully specified subdistribution model for survival data with competing risks

Competing risks data are routinely encountered in various medical applications due to the fact that patients may die from different causes. Recently, several models have been proposed for fitting such survival data. In this paper, we develop a fully specified subdistribution model for survival data in the presence of competing risks via a subdistribution model for the primary cause of death and conditional distributions for other causes of death. Various properties of this fully specified subdistribution model have been examined. An efficient Gibbs sampling algorithm via latent variables is developed to carry out posterior computations. Deviance information criterion (DIC) and logarithm of the pseudomarginal likelihood (LPML) are used for model comparison. An extensive simulation study is carried out to examine the performance of DIC and LPML in comparing the cause-specific hazards model, the mixture model, and the fully specified subdistribution model. The proposed methodology is applied to analyze a real dataset from a prostate cancer study in detail.