We propose a new multivariate volatility model where the conditional distribution of a vector time series is given by a mixture of multivariate normal distributions. Each of these distributions is allowed to have a time-varying covariance matrix. The process can be globally covariance-stationary...

We investigate the possibility of approximating the variance gamma distribution with a finite mixture of normals. Therefore, we apply this result to derive a simple historical estimation procedure by means of the Expectation Maximization algorithm.

In lifetime analysis of electric transformers, the maximum likelihood estimation has been proposed with the EM algorithm. However, it is not clear whether the EM algorithm offers a better solution compared to the simpler Newton-Raphson algorithm. In this paper, the first objective is a...

Marshall and Olkin (1997)  [14] provided a general method to introduce a parameter into a family of distributions and discussed in details about the exponential and Weibull families. They have also briefly introduced the bivariate extension, although not any properties or inferential issues...

In this paper, the identifiability of a finite mixture of generalized exponential distributions (GE(τ, α)) is proved and the maximum likelihood estimates (MLE’s) of the parameters are obtained using EM algorithm based on a general form of right-censored failure times. The results are...

Asset health prediction is imperative to optimal asset management. Online and offline inspections can provide useful information for predicting asset health. The information from an asset health inspection can be divided into two types. (1) Direct indicators which directly determine failures...

Item count techniques (ICTs) are indirect survey questioning methods designed to deal with sensitive features. These techniques have gained the support of many applied researchers and undergone further theoretical development. Latterly in the literature, two new item count methods, called...

This paper addresses the poor performance of the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in the estimation of low-noise dynamic factor models, commonly used in macroeconomic forecasting and nowcasting. We show analytically and in Monte Carlo simulations how the EM algorithm stagnates in a...

This paper aims to evaluate Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insurance values through regime-switching models. We separate periods of the economy with faster growth from those with slower growth to observe long-term trends in the economy. We derive a fair PBGC insurance pricing...