Finite normal mixture copulas for multivariate discrete data modeling

A new family of copulas is introduced that provides flexible dependence structure while being tractable and simple to use for multivariate discrete data modeling. The construction exploits finite mixtures of uncorrelated normal distributions. Accordingly, the cumulative distribution function is simply the product of univariate normal distributions. At the same time, however, the mixing operation introduces association. The properties of the new family of copulas are examined and a concrete application is used to show its applicability.     

Nonparametric estimation of multivariate extreme-value copulas

Extreme-value copulas arise in the asymptotic theory for componentwise maxima of independent random samples. An extreme-value copula is determined by its Pickands dependence function, which is a function on the unit simplex subject to certain shape constraints that arise from an integral transform of an underlying measure called spectral measure. Multivariate extensions are provided of certain rank-based nonparametric estimators of the Pickands dependence function. The shape constraint that the estimator should itself be a Pickands dependence function is enforced by replacing an initial estimator by its best least-squares approximation in the set of Pickands dependence functions having a discrete spectral measure supported on a sufficiently fine grid. Weak convergence of the standardized estimators is demonstrated and the finite-sample performance of the estimators is investigated by means of a simulation experiment.     

Lower semiquadratic copulas with a given diagonal section

Inspired by the notion of lower semilinear copulas, we introduce a new class of copulas. These copulas, called lower semiquadratic copulas, are constructed by quadratic interpolation on segments connecting the diagonal of the unit square to the lower and left boundary of the unit square. Moreover, we unveil the necessary and sufficient conditions on a diagonal function and two auxiliary real functions u and v to obtain a copula that has this diagonal function as diagonal section. Under some mild assumptions, we characterize the smallest and the greatest lower semiquadratic copulas with a given diagonal section.     

Truncation invariant copulas and a testing procedure

ABSTRACT

The class of bivariate copulas that are invariant under truncation with respect to one variable is considered. A simulation algorithm for the members of the class and a novel construction method are presented. Moreover, inspired by a stochastic interpretation of the members of such a class, a procedure is suggested to check whether the dependence structure of a given data set is truncation invariant. The overall performance of the procedure has been illustrated on both simulated and real data.     

Modern trends in multivariate time-series analysis 2

The paper deals with statistical tests of hypotheses about the real parameter of a homogeneous time-discrete Markov process. The power function of an asymptotically uniformly most powerful unbiased sequence of tests is approximately calculated and the convergence order of the remainder term is given. The essential assumption used is the uniform ergodicity of the Markov process.     

Kernel estimations for multivariate density functional with bootstrap

In this article the bootstrap method is discussed for the kernel estimation of the multivariate density function. We have considered sample mean functional and constructed its consistency and asymptotic normality by bootstrap estimator. It has been shown that the bootstrap works for kernel estimates of multivariate density functional. The convergence rate with bootstrap for density has been proved. Finally, two simulations of application are given.     

A new formula for the computation of multivariate factorized moments by using the joint cumulative distribution function

This work presents a closed formula to compute any muitivariate factorized expected value from the knowledge of the joint cumulative distribution function (cdf) of any random variable. Additionally, a new nonparametric estimator alternative to the sample average is presented for the univariate case.     

Estimation and inference of the joint conditional distribution for multivariate longitudinal data using nonparametric copulas

In this paper we study estimating the joint conditional distributions of multivariate longitudinal outcomes using regression models and copulas. For the estimation of marginal models, we consider a class of time-varying transformation models and combine the two marginal models using nonparametric empirical copulas. Our models and estimation method can be applied in many situations where the conditional mean-based models are not good enough. Empirical copulas combined with time-varying transformation models may allow quite flexible modelling for the joint conditional distributions for multivariate longitudinal data. We derive the asymptotic properties for the copula-based estimators of the joint conditional distribution functions. For illustration we apply our estimation method to an epidemiological study of childhood growth and blood pressure.     

Optimal smoothing parameters for multivariate fized and adaptive kernel methods

Except in special cases optimum smoothing parameters of kernel methods are difficult to obtain for small samples, and large sample results are often used. Simulation is used to obtain finite sample optimum smoothing parameters and mean integrated square errors for the bivariate normal density. For this example, comparison is made of finite and asymptotic results, and of fixed and adaptive kernel methods. Further comparisons are made of fixed and adaptive methods by considering four other different types of density. Finally, some examples are given.     

Bayesian multivariate GARCH models with dynamic correlations and asymmetric error distributions

The main goal in this paper is to develop and apply stochastic simulation techniques for GARCH models with multivariate skewed distributions using the Bayesian approach. Both parameter estimation and model comparison are not trivial tasks and several approximate and computationally intensive methods (Markov chain Monte Carlo) will be used to this end. We consider a flexible class of multivariate distributions which can model both skewness and heavy tails. Also, we do not fix tail behaviour when dealing with fat tail distributions but leave it subject to inference.     

MCMC方法下最优Copula的估计及选取

针对目前Copula函数在实际中的应用问题,介绍了一种基于马尔科夫链蒙特卡罗方法（MCMC）的Copula函数估计及选取方法,并将该方法与目前常用方法进行系统比较,最后对上证综合指数和深证成分指数进行了实证分析,结果体现了该法的有效性。     

Pointwise and uniform convergence of multivariate kernel density estimators using random bandwidths

We obtain the rates of pointwise and uniform convergence of multivariate kernel density estimators using a random bandwidth vector obtained by some data-based algorithm. We are able to obtain faster rate for pointwise convergence. The uniform convergence rate is obtained under some moment condition on the marginal distribution. The rates are obtained under i.i.d. and strongly mixing type dependence assumptions.     

A marginal regression model for multivariate failure time data with a surviving fraction

A marginal regression approach for correlated censored survival data has become a widely used statistical method. Examples of this approach in survival analysis include from the early work by Wei et al. (J Am Stat Assoc 84:1065–1073, 1989) to more recent work by Spiekerman and Lin (J Am Stat Assoc 93:1164–1175, 1998). This approach is particularly useful if a covariate’s population average effect is of primary interest and the correlation structure is not of interest or cannot be appropriately specified due to lack of sufficient information. In this paper, we consider a semiparametric marginal proportional hazard mixture cure model for clustered survival data with a surviving or “cure” fraction. Unlike the clustered data in previous work, the latent binary cure statuses of patients in one cluster tend to be correlated in addition to the possible correlated failure times among the patients in the cluster who are not cured. The complexity of specifying appropriate correlation structures for the data becomes even worse if the potential correlation between cure statuses and the failure times in the cluster has to be considered, and thus a marginal regression approach is particularly attractive. We formulate a semiparametric marginal proportional hazards mixture cure model. Estimates are obtained using an EM algorithm and expressions for the variance–covariance are derived using sandwich estimators. Simulation studies are conducted to assess finite sample properties of the proposed model. The marginal model is applied to a multi-institutional study of local recurrences of tonsil cancer patients who received radiation therapy. It reveals new findings that are not available from previous analyses of this study that ignored the potential correlation between patients within the same institution.     

基于Copula理论的最优边缘分布模型构建

基于Copula理论,文章以Kolmogorov-Smirnov、Ljung-Box Q检验结果为择优标准,综合利用ARMA-GARCH族模型、极值理论以及非参数核密度函数构建四类常用边缘分布模型,以确定刻画全球重要股指收益率边缘分布的最优模型。结果表明,非参数ARMA-GARCH族-EVT模型对样本边缘分布的刻画最为准确。