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Nonparametric Regression Density Estimation Using Smoothly Varying Normal Mixtures

Author

Listed:
  • Villani, Mattias

    (Research Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

  • Kohn, Robert

    (Faculty of Business, University of New South Wales)

  • Giordani, Paolo

    (Research Department, Central Bank of Sweden)

Abstract

We model a regression density nonparametrically so that at each value of the covariates the density is a mixture of normals with the means, variances and mixture probabilities of the com- ponents changing smoothly as a function of the covariates. The model extends existing models in two important ways. First, the components are allowed to be heteroscedastic regressions as the standard model with homoscedastic regressions can give a poor fit to heteroscedastic data, especially when the number of covariates is large. Furthermore, we typically need a lot fewer heteroscedastic components, which makes it easier to interpret the model and speeds up the computation. The second main extension is to introduce a novel variable selection prior into all the components of the model. The variable selection prior acts as a self-adjusting mech- anism that prevents overfitting and makes it feasible to fit high-dimensional nonparametric surfaces. We use Bayesian inference and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods to estimate the model. Simulated and real examples are used to show that the full generality of our model is required to fit a large class of densities.

Suggested Citation

  • Villani, Mattias & Kohn, Robert & Giordani, Paolo, 2007. "Nonparametric Regression Density Estimation Using Smoothly Varying Normal Mixtures," Working Paper Series 211, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:rbnkwp:0211
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    File URL: http://www.riksbank.se/upload/Dokument_riksbank/Kat_publicerat/WorkingPapers/wp211.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruppert,David & Wand,M. P. & Carroll,R. J., 2003. "Semiparametric Regression," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521785167, October.
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    7. Smith, Michael & Kohn, Robert, 1996. "Nonparametric regression using Bayesian variable selection," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 317-343, December.
    8. Geweke, John & Keane, Michael, 2007. "Smoothly mixing regressions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 138(1), pages 252-290, May.
    9. David B. Dunson & Natesh Pillai & Ju‐Hyun Park, 2007. "Bayesian density regression," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 69(2), pages 163-183, April.
    10. Ruppert,David & Wand,M. P. & Carroll,R. J., 2003. "Semiparametric Regression," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521780506, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    3. Chib, Siddhartha & Greenberg, Edward, 2010. "Additive cubic spline regression with Dirichlet process mixture errors," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 156(2), pages 322-336, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bayesian inference; Markov Chain Monte Carlo; Mixture of Experts; Predictive inference; Splines; Value-at-Risk; Variable selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General

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