Efficient posterior integration in stable paretian models

The paper proposes a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method for Bayesian analysis of general regression models with disturbances from the family of stable distributions with arbitrary characteristic exponent and skewness parameter. The method does not require data augmentation and is based on combining fast Fourier transforms of the characteristic function to get the likelihood function and a Metropolis random walk chain to perform posterior analysis. Both a validation nonlinear regression and a nonlinear model for the Standard and Poor’s composite price index illustrate the method.