The aim of these notes is to revisit sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) sampling. SMC sampling is a powerful simulation tool for solving non-linear and/or non-Gaussian state space models. We illustrate this with several examples.

In recent years state space models, particularly the linear Gaussian version, have become the standard framework for analyzing macro-economic and financial data. However, many heoretically motivated models imply non-linear or non-Gaussian specifications – or both. Existing methods for...

I develop a new method for approximating and estimating nonlinear, non-Gaussian state space models. I show that any such model can be well approximated by a discrete-state Markov process and estimated using techniques developed in Hamilton (1989). Through Monte Carlo simulations, I demonstrate...

We consider unobserved components time series models where the components are stochastically evolving over time and are subject to stochastic volatility. It enables the disentanglement of dynamic structures in both the mean and the variance of the observed time series. We develop a simulated...