Model specification and selection for multivariate time series

Three major difficulties are identified with an established echelon form approach (see Hannan (1987)) to specifying a Vector Autoregressive Moving Average, VARMA, model for an observed time series. A family of state space representations, valid for each integer, h, is introduced, and collectively referred to as multistep state space representations. This family includes as its special case, with h=0, a state space representation introduced earlier by Akaike (1974), and, with h=1, that introduced by Cooper and Wood (1982). Appropriate generalizations of the notions of minimality, McMillan degree, left matrix fraction description and Kronecker indices, as applicable individually to each member of this family, are presented. The reverse echelon form and state space representation corresponding to the Kronecker indices for each h are derived, and the former illustrated with three examples of standard VARMA processes. The question of how the presence of zero constraints on the coefficients of a reverse echelon form may be detected solely from an inspection of the Kronecker indices is examined. A canonical correlation procedure proposed originally by Akaike (1976) for h=0 is considered for estimating the Kronecker indices with each h. The efficacy of the estimation procedure is investigated by a simulation study. A procedure is suggested for implementing the new approach introduced in this paper with an observed time series, and three different applications of this approach are outlined. This approach is also related to some of its alternatives, including the Kronecker invariants of Poskitt (1992) and the scalar component approach of Tiao and Tsay (1989).