Optimal pricing using online auction experiments: A P\'olya tree approach

We show how a retailer can estimate the optimal price of a new product using observed transaction prices from online second-price auction experiments. For this purpose we propose a Bayesian P\'olya tree approach which, given the limited nature of the data, requires a specially tailored implementation. Avoiding the need for a priori parametric assumptions, the P\'olya tree approach allows for flexible inference of the valuation distribution, leading to more robust estimation of optimal price than competing parametric approaches. In collaboration with an online jewelry retailer, we illustrate how our methodology can be combined with managerial prior knowledge to estimate the profit maximizing price of a new jewelry product.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOAS503 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Improved minimax predictive densities under Kullback--Leibler loss

Let $X| \mu \sim N_p(\mu,v_xI)$ and $Y| \mu \sim N_p(\mu,v_yI)$ be independent p-dimensional multivariate normal vectors with common unknown mean $\mu$. Based on only observing $X=x$, we consider the problem of obtaining a predictive density $\hat{p}(y| x)$ for $Y$ that is close to $p(y| \mu)$ as measured by expected Kullback--Leibler loss. A natural procedure for this problem is the (formal) Bayes predictive density $\hat{p}_{\mathrm{U}}(y| x)$ under the uniform prior $\pi_{\mathrm{U}}(\mu)\equiv 1$, which is best invariant and minimax. We show that any Bayes predictive density will be minimax if it is obtained by a prior yielding a marginal that is superharmonic or whose square root is superharmonic. This yields wide classes of minimax procedures that dominate $\hat{p}_{\mathrm{U}}(y| x)$, including Bayes predictive densities under superharmonic priors. Fundamental similarities and differences with the parallel theory of estimating a multivariate normal mean under quadratic loss are described.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053606000000155 in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Bayesian forecasting of Prepayment Rates for Individual Pools of Mortgages

This paper proposes a novel approach for modeling prepayment rates of individual pools of mortgages. The model incorporates the empirical evidence that prepayment is past dependent via Bayesian methodology. There are many factors that influence the prepayment behavior and for many of them there is no available (or impossible to gather) information. We implement this issue by creating a Bayesian mixture model and construct a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to estimate the parameters. We assess the model on a data set from the Bloomberg Database. Our results show that the burnout effect is a significant variable for explaining normal prepayment activities. This result does not hold when prepayment is triggered by non-pool dependent events. We show how to use the new model to compute prices for Mortgage Backed Securities. Monte Carlo simulation is the traditional method for obtaining such prices and the proposed model can be easily incorporated within simulation pricing framework. Prices for standard Pass-Throughs are obtained using simulation.State of Texas Advanced Research Program 003658-0763National Science Foundation CMMI-0457558, DMS-0605102Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineerin

Simultaneous Variable and Covariance Selection with the Multivariate Spike-and-Slab Lasso

We propose a Bayesian procedure for simultaneous variable and covariance selection using continuous spike-and-slab priors in multivariate linear regression models where q possibly correlated responses are regressed onto p predictors. Rather than relying on a stochastic search through the high-dimensional model space, we develop an ECM algorithm similar to the EMVS procedure of Rockova & George (2014) targeting modal estimates of the matrix of regression coefficients and residual precision matrix. Varying the scale of the continuous spike densities facilitates dynamic posterior exploration and allows us to filter out negligible regression coefficients and partial covariances gradually. Our method is seen to substantially outperform regularization competitors on simulated data. We demonstrate our method with a re-examination of data from a recent observational study of the effect of playing high school football on several later-life cognition, psychological, and socio-economic outcomes

Admissible predictive density estimation

Let $X|\mu\sim N_p(\mu,v_xI)$ and $Y|\mu\sim N_p(\mu,v_yI)$ be independent $p$-dimensional multivariate normal vectors with common unknown mean $\mu$. Based on observing $X=x$, we consider the problem of estimating the true predictive density $p(y|\mu)$ of $Y$ under expected Kullback--Leibler loss. Our focus here is the characterization of admissible procedures for this problem. We show that the class of all generalized Bayes rules is a complete class, and that the easily interpretable conditions of Brown and Hwang [Statistical Decision Theory and Related Topics (1982) III 205--230] are sufficient for a formal Bayes rule to be admissible.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/07-AOS506 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Dilution Priors: Compensating for Model Space Redundancy

For the general Bayesian model uncertainty framework, the focus of this paper is on the development of model space priors which can compensate for redundancy between model classes, the so-called dilution priors proposed in George (1999). Several distinct approaches for dilution prior construction are suggested. One is based on tessellation determined neighborhoods, another on collinearity adjustments, and a third on pairwise distances between models

Variable selection for BART: An application to gene regulation

We consider the task of discovering gene regulatory networks, which are defined as sets of genes and the corresponding transcription factors which regulate their expression levels. This can be viewed as a variable selection problem, potentially with high dimensionality. Variable selection is especially challenging in high-dimensional settings, where it is difficult to detect subtle individual effects and interactions between predictors. Bayesian Additive Regression Trees [BART, Ann. Appl. Stat. 4 (2010) 266-298] provides a novel nonparametric alternative to parametric regression approaches, such as the lasso or stepwise regression, especially when the number of relevant predictors is sparse relative to the total number of available predictors and the fundamental relationships are nonlinear. We develop a principled permutation-based inferential approach for determining when the effect of a selected predictor is likely to be real. Going further, we adapt the BART procedure to incorporate informed prior information about variable importance. We present simulations demonstrating that our method compares favorably to existing parametric and nonparametric procedures in a variety of data settings. To demonstrate the potential of our approach in a biological context, we apply it to the task of inferring the gene regulatory network in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). We find that our BART-based procedure is best able to recover the subset of covariates with the largest signal compared to other variable selection methods. The methods developed in this work are readily available in the R package bartMachine.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/14-AOAS755 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

The Median Probability Model and Correlated Variables

The median probability model (MPM) Barbieri and Berger (2004) is defined as the model consisting of those variables whose marginal posterior probability of inclusion is at least 0.5. The MPM rule yields the best single model for prediction in orthogonal and nested correlated designs. This result was originally conceived under a specific class of priors, such as the point mass mixtures of non-informative and g-type priors. The MPM rule, however, has become so very popular that it is now being deployed for a wider variety of priors and under correlated designs, where the properties of MPM are not yet completely understood. The main thrust of this work is to shed light on properties of MPM in these contexts by (a) characterizing situations when MPM is still safe under correlated designs, (b) providing significant generalizations of MPM to a broader class of priors (such as continuous spike-and-slab priors). We also provide new supporting evidence for the suitability of g-priors, as opposed to independent product priors, using new predictive matching arguments. Furthermore, we emphasize the importance of prior model probabilities and highlight the merits of non-uniform prior probability assignments using the notion of model aggregates

Fully Bayes factors with a generalized g-prior

For the normal linear model variable selection problem, we propose selection criteria based on a fully Bayes formulation with a generalization of Zellner's $g$-prior which allows for $p>n$. A special case of the prior formulation is seen to yield tractable closed forms for marginal densities and Bayes factors which reveal new model evaluation characteristics of potential interest.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOS917 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Fast Bayesian Factor Analysis via Automatic Rotations to Sparsity

Rotational post hoc transformations have traditionally played a key role in enhancing the interpretability of factor analysis. Regularization methods also serve to achieve this goal by prioritizing sparse loading matrices. In this work, we bridge these two paradigms with a unifying Bayesian framework. Our approach deploys intermediate factor rotations throughout the learning process, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of sparsity inducing priors. These automatic rotations to sparsity are embedded within a PXL-EM algorithm, a Bayesian variant of parameter-expanded EM for posterior mode detection. By iterating between soft-thresholding of small factor loadings and transformations of the factor basis, we obtain (a) dramatic accelerations, (b) robustness against poor initializations, and (c) better oriented sparse solutions. To avoid the prespecification of the factor cardinality, we extend the loading matrix to have infinitely many columns with the Indian buffet process (IBP) prior. The factor dimensionality is learned from the posterior, which is shown to concentrate on sparse matrices. Our deployment of PXL-EM performs a dynamic posterior exploration, outputting a solution path indexed by a sequence of spike-and-slab priors. For accurate recovery of the factor loadings, we deploy the spike-and-slab LASSO prior, a two-component refinement of the Laplace prior. A companion criterion, motivated as an integral lower bound, is provided to effectively select the best recovery. The potential of the proposed procedure is demonstrated on both simulated and real high-dimensional data, which would render posterior simulation impractical. Supplementary materials for this article are available online