IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/metcap/v25y2023i3d10.1007_s11009-023-10036-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On Computing the Multivariate Poisson Probability Distribution

Author

Listed:
  • Bora Çekyay

    (Yildiz Technical University)

  • J.B.G. Frenk

    (Sabancı University)

  • Sonya Javadi

    (Işık University)

Abstract

Within the theory of non-negative integer valued multivariate infinitely divisible distributions, the multivariate Poisson distribution plays a key role. As in the univariate case, any non-negative integer valued infinitely divisible multivariate distribution can be approximated by a multivariate distribution belonging to the compound Poisson family. The multivariate Poisson distribution is an important member of this family. In recent years, the multivariate Poisson distributions also has gained practical importance, since they serve as models to describe counting data having a positive covariance structure. However, due to the computational complexity of computing the multivariate Poisson probability mass function (pmf) and its corresponding cumulative distribution function (cdf), their use within these counting models is limited. Since most of the theoretical properties of the multivariate Poisson probability distribution seem already to be known, the main focus of this paper is on proposing more efficient algorithms to compute this pmf. Using a well known property of a Poisson multivariate distributed random vector, we propose in this paper a direct approach to calculate this pmf based on finding all solutions of a system of linear Diophantine equations. This new approach complements an already existing procedure depending on the use of recurrence relations existing for the pmf. We compare our new approach with this already existing approach applied to a slightly different set of recurrence relations which are easier to evaluate. A proof of this new set of recurrence relations is also given. As a result, several algorithms are proposed where some of them are based on the new approach and some use the recurrence relations. To test these algorithms, we provide an extensive analysis in the computational section. Based on the experiments in this section, we conclude that the approach finding all solutions of a set of linear Diophantine equations is computationally more efficient than the approach using the recurrence relations to evaluate the pmf of a multivariate Poisson distributed random vector.

Suggested Citation

  • Bora Çekyay & J.B.G. Frenk & Sonya Javadi, 2023. "On Computing the Multivariate Poisson Probability Distribution," Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 1-22, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:metcap:v:25:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11009-023-10036-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11009-023-10036-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11009-023-10036-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11009-023-10036-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dimitris Karlis, 2003. "An EM algorithm for multivariate Poisson distribution and related models," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 63-77.
    2. Lukacs, Eugene & Beer, S., 1977. "Characterization of the multivariate poisson distribution," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, March.
    3. Inbal Yahav & Galit Shmueli, 2012. "On generating multivariate Poisson data in management science applications," Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 91-102, January.
    4. Tom Brijs & Dimitris Karlis & Gilbert Swinnen & Koen Vanhoof & Geert Wets & Puneet Manchanda, 2004. "A multivariate Poisson mixture model for marketing applications," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 58(3), pages 322-348, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kalema, George & Molenberghs, Geert, 2016. "Generating Correlated and/or Overdispersed Count Data: A SAS Implementation," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 70(c01).
    2. Hazel Bateman & Christine Eckert & Fedor Iskhakov & Jordan Louviere & Stephen Satchell & Susan Thorp, 2017. "Default and naive diversification heuristics in annuity choice," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(1), pages 32-57, February.
    3. Guo-Liang Tian & Xiqian Ding & Yin Liu & Man-Lai Tang, 2019. "Some new statistical methods for a class of zero-truncated discrete distributions with applications," Computational Statistics, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 1393-1426, September.
    4. Jacek Osiewalski & Jerzy Marzec, 2019. "Joint modelling of two count variables when one of them can be degenerate," Computational Statistics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 153-171, March.
    5. Sergei Leonov & Bahjat Qaqish, 2020. "Correlated endpoints: simulation, modeling, and extreme correlations," Statistical Papers, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 741-766, April.
    6. Modarres, Reza, 2016. "Multivariate Poisson interpoint distances," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 113-123.
    7. Bermúdez, Lluís & Karlis, Dimitris, 2012. "A finite mixture of bivariate Poisson regression models with an application to insurance ratemaking," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 56(12), pages 3988-3999.
    8. Chan, Jennifer So Kuen & Wan, Wai Yin, 2014. "Multivariate generalized Poisson geometric process model with scale mixtures of normal distributions," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 72-87.
    9. Tom Brijs & Dimitris Karlis & Filip Van den Bossche & Geert Wets, 2007. "A Bayesian model for ranking hazardous road sites," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 170(4), pages 1001-1017, October.
    10. Yang, Ying & Kang, Jian, 2010. "Joint analysis of mixed Poisson and continuous longitudinal data with nonignorable missing values," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 193-207, January.
    11. Lv, Jing & Yang, Hu & Guo, Chaohui, 2015. "An efficient and robust variable selection method for longitudinal generalized linear models," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-88.
    12. Kus, Coskun, 2007. "A new lifetime distribution," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 51(9), pages 4497-4509, May.
    13. Wenqiong Xue & Jian Kang & F. DuBois Bowman & Tor D. Wager & Jian Guo, 2014. "Identifying functional co-activation patterns in neuroimaging studies via poisson graphical models," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 70(4), pages 812-822, December.
    14. Avanzi, Benjamin & Taylor, Greg & Vu, Phuong Anh & Wong, Bernard, 2016. "Stochastic loss reserving with dependence: A flexible multivariate Tweedie approach," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 63-78.
    15. Sobom M. Somé & Célestin C. Kokonendji & Nawel Belaid & Smail Adjabi & Rahma Abid, 2023. "Bayesian local bandwidths in a flexible semiparametric kernel estimation for multivariate count data with diagnostics," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 32(3), pages 843-865, September.
    16. Robert C. Jung & Andrew R. Tremayne, 2020. "Maximum-Likelihood Estimation in a Special Integer Autoregressive Model," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-15, June.
    17. F. Lopez Blasquez & D. Pommeret, 2006. "A characterization of multivariate distributions by conditional moments," Metron - International Journal of Statistics, Dipartimento di Statistica, Probabilità e Statistiche Applicate - University of Rome, vol. 0(2), pages 131-144.
    18. Rolf Larsson, 2022. "Bartlett correction of an independence test in a multivariate Poisson model," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 76(4), pages 391-417, November.
    19. Emily B. Dennis & Byron J.T. Morgan & Martin S. Ridout, 2015. "Computational aspects of N-mixture models," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 71(1), pages 237-246, March.
    20. Su Pei-Fang & Mau Yu-Lin & Guo Yan & Li Chung-I & Liu Qi & Boice John D. & Shyr Yu, 2017. "Bivariate Poisson models with varying offsets: an application to the paired mitochondrial DNA dataset," Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 47-58, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:metcap:v:25:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11009-023-10036-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.