IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecnmx/v8y2020i2p20-d360596.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Triple the Gamma—A Unifying Shrinkage Prior for Variance and Variable Selection in Sparse State Space and TVP Models

Author

Listed:
  • Annalisa Cadonna

    (Department of Finance, Accounting and Statistics, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, 1020 Vienna, Austria)

  • Sylvia Frühwirth-Schnatter

    (Department of Finance, Accounting and Statistics, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, 1020 Vienna, Austria)

  • Peter Knaus

    (Department of Finance, Accounting and Statistics, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, 1020 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

Time-varying parameter (TVP) models are very flexible in capturing gradual changes in the effect of explanatory variables on the outcome variable. However, in particular when the number of explanatory variables is large, there is a known risk of overfitting and poor predictive performance, since the effect of some explanatory variables is constant over time. We propose a new prior for variance shrinkage in TVP models, called triple gamma. The triple gamma prior encompasses a number of priors that have been suggested previously, such as the Bayesian Lasso, the double gamma prior and the Horseshoe prior. We present the desirable properties of such a prior and its relationship to Bayesian Model Averaging for variance selection. The features of the triple gamma prior are then illustrated in the context of time varying parameter vector autoregressive models, both for simulated dataset and for a series of macroeconomics variables in the Euro Area.

Suggested Citation

  • Annalisa Cadonna & Sylvia Frühwirth-Schnatter & Peter Knaus, 2020. "Triple the Gamma—A Unifying Shrinkage Prior for Variance and Variable Selection in Sparse State Space and TVP Models," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-36, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecnmx:v:8:y:2020:i:2:p:20-:d:360596
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1146/8/2/20/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1146/8/2/20/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlos M. Carvalho & Nicholas G. Polson & James G. Scott, 2010. "The horseshoe estimator for sparse signals," Biometrika, Biometrika Trust, vol. 97(2), pages 465-480.
    2. Miguel A.G. Belmonte & Gary Koop & Dimitris Korobilis, 2014. "Hierarchical Shrinkage in Time‐Varying Parameter Models," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 80-94, January.
    3. Martin Feldkircher & Luis Gruber & Florian Huber & Gregor Kastner, 2017. "Sophisticated and small versus simple and sizeable: When does it pay off to introduce drifting coefficients in Bayesian VARs?," Papers 1711.00564, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    4. Cottet, Remy & Kohn, Robert J. & Nott, David J., 2008. "Variable Selection and Model Averaging in Semiparametric Overdispersed Generalized Linear Models," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 103, pages 661-671, June.
    5. Fernandez, Carmen & Ley, Eduardo & Steel, Mark F. J., 2001. "Benchmark priors for Bayesian model averaging," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 381-427, February.
    6. Eric Eisenstat & Joshua C. C. Chan & Rodney W. Strachan, 2016. "Stochastic Model Specification Search for Time-Varying Parameter VARs," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(8-10), pages 1638-1665, December.
    7. Marco Del Negro & Giorgio E. Primiceri, 2015. "Time Varying Structural Vector Autoregressions and Monetary Policy: A Corrigendum," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 82(4), pages 1342-1345.
    8. Bitto, Angela & Frühwirth-Schnatter, Sylvia, 2019. "Achieving shrinkage in a time-varying parameter model framework," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 210(1), pages 75-97.
    9. Carriero, Andrea & Clark, Todd E. & Marcellino, Massimiliano, 2019. "Large Bayesian vector autoregressions with stochastic volatility and non-conjugate priors," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 212(1), pages 137-154.
    10. P. J. Brown & M. Vannucci & T. Fearn, 2002. "Bayes model averaging with selection of regressors," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 64(3), pages 519-536, August.
    11. Fagan, Gabriel & Henry, Jerome & Mestre, Ricardo, 2005. "An area-wide model for the euro area," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 39-59, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter Knaus & Sylvia Fruhwirth-Schnatter, 2023. "The Dynamic Triple Gamma Prior as a Shrinkage Process Prior for Time-Varying Parameter Models," Papers 2312.10487, arXiv.org.
    2. Martin Gachter & Elias Hasler & Florian Huber, 2023. "A tale of two tails: 130 years of growth-at-risk," Papers 2302.08920, arXiv.org.
    3. Kaito Shimamura & Shuichi Kawano, 2021. "Bayesian sparse convex clustering via global-local shrinkage priors," Computational Statistics, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 2671-2699, December.
    4. Sylvia Fruhwirth-Schnatter, 2023. "Generalized Cumulative Shrinkage Process Priors with Applications to Sparse Bayesian Factor Analysis," Papers 2303.00473, arXiv.org.
    5. Niko Hauzenberger, 2020. "Flexible Mixture Priors for Large Time-varying Parameter Models," Papers 2006.10088, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2020.
    6. Yu Bai & Andrea Carriero & Todd E. Clark & Massimiliano Marcellino, 2022. "Macroeconomic forecasting in a multi‐country context," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(6), pages 1230-1255, September.
    7. Hauzenberger, Niko & Pfarrhofer, Michael & Stelzer, Anna, 2021. "On the effectiveness of the European Central Bank’s conventional and unconventional policies under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 822-845.
    8. Helmut Lutkepohl & Fei Shang & Luis Uzeda & Tomasz Wo'zniak, 2024. "Partial Identification of Heteroskedastic Structural VARs: Theory and Bayesian Inference," Papers 2404.11057, arXiv.org.
    9. Sylvia Fruhwirth-Schnatter & Peter Knaus, 2022. "Sparse Bayesian State-Space and Time-Varying Parameter Models," Papers 2207.12147, arXiv.org.
    10. Marco Berrettini & Giuliano Galimberti & Saverio Ranciati, 2023. "Semiparametric finite mixture of regression models with Bayesian P-splines," Advances in Data Analysis and Classification, Springer;German Classification Society - Gesellschaft für Klassifikation (GfKl);Japanese Classification Society (JCS);Classification and Data Analysis Group of the Italian Statistical Society (CLADAG);International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS), vol. 17(3), pages 745-775, September.

    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. Annalisa Cadonna & Sylvia Fruhwirth-Schnatter & Peter Knaus, 2019. "Triple the gamma -- A unifying shrinkage prior for variance and variable selection in sparse state space and TVP models," Papers 1912.03100, arXiv.org.
    2. Hauzenberger, Niko, 2021. "Flexible Mixture Priors for Large Time-varying Parameter Models," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 87-108.
    3. Dimitris Korobilis & Kenichi Shimizu, 2022. "Bayesian Approaches to Shrinkage and Sparse Estimation," Foundations and Trends(R) in Econometrics, now publishers, vol. 11(4), pages 230-354, June.
    4. Sylvia Fruhwirth-Schnatter & Peter Knaus, 2022. "Sparse Bayesian State-Space and Time-Varying Parameter Models," Papers 2207.12147, arXiv.org.
    5. Niko Hauzenberger, 2020. "Flexible Mixture Priors for Large Time-varying Parameter Models," Papers 2006.10088, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2020.
    6. Yu Bai & Andrea Carriero & Todd E. Clark & Massimiliano Marcellino, 2022. "Macroeconomic forecasting in a multi‐country context," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(6), pages 1230-1255, September.
    7. Belomestny, Denis & Krymova, Ekaterina & Polbin, Andrey, 2021. "Bayesian TVP-VARX models with time invariant long-run multipliers," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Marta Banbura & Andries van Vlodrop, 2018. "Forecasting with Bayesian Vector Autoregressions with Time Variation in the Mean," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-025/IV, Tinbergen Institute.
    9. David Kohns & Arnab Bhattacharjee, 2020. "Nowcasting Growth using Google Trends Data: A Bayesian Structural Time Series Model," Papers 2011.00938, arXiv.org, revised May 2022.
    10. Dufays, Arnaud & Rombouts, Jeroen V.K., 2020. "Relevant parameter changes in structural break models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 217(1), pages 46-78.
    11. Peter Knaus & Sylvia Fruhwirth-Schnatter, 2023. "The Dynamic Triple Gamma Prior as a Shrinkage Process Prior for Time-Varying Parameter Models," Papers 2312.10487, arXiv.org.
    12. Florian Huber & Michael Pfarrhofer & Philipp Piribauer, 2020. "A multi‐country dynamic factor model with stochastic volatility for euro area business cycle analysis," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(6), pages 911-926, September.
    13. Zheng, Tingguo & Ye, Shiqi & Hong, Yongmiao, 2023. "Fast estimation of a large TVP-VAR model with score-driven volatilities," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Lopes, Hedibert F. & McCulloch, Robert E. & Tsay, Ruey S., 2022. "Parsimony inducing priors for large scale state–space models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 230(1), pages 39-61.
    15. Luis Gruber & Gregor Kastner, 2022. "Forecasting macroeconomic data with Bayesian VARs: Sparse or dense? It depends!," Papers 2206.04902, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2023.
    16. Bitto, Angela & Frühwirth-Schnatter, Sylvia, 2019. "Achieving shrinkage in a time-varying parameter model framework," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 210(1), pages 75-97.
    17. Hauzenberger Niko & Huber Florian & Koop Gary, 2024. "Dynamic Shrinkage Priors for Large Time-Varying Parameter Regressions Using Scalable Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 28(2), pages 201-225, April.
    18. Pfarrhofer, Michael, 2023. "Measuring International Uncertainty Using Global Vector Autoregressions with Drifting Parameters," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 770-793, April.
    19. Florian Huber & Gary Koop & Michael Pfarrhofer, 2020. "Bayesian Inference in High-Dimensional Time-varying Parameter Models using Integrated Rotated Gaussian Approximations," Papers 2002.10274, arXiv.org.
    20. Bańbura, Marta & Brenna, Federica & Paredes, Joan & Ravazzolo, Francesco, 2021. "Combining Bayesian VARs with survey density forecasts: does it pay off?," Working Paper Series 2543, European Central Bank.

    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:gam:jecnmx:v:8:y:2020:i:2:p:20-:d:360596. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.