Quasi-random numbers for copula models

The present work addresses the question how sampling algorithms for commonly applied copula models can be adapted to account for quasi-random numbers. Besides sampling methods such as the conditional distribution method (based on a one-to-one transformation), it is also shown that typically faster sampling methods (based on stochastic representations) can be used to improve upon classical Monte Carlo methods when pseudo-random number generators are replaced by quasi-random number generators. This opens the door to quasi-random numbers for models well beyond independent margins or the multivariate normal distribution. Detailed examples (in the context of finance and insurance), illustrations and simulations are given and software has been developed and provided in the R packages copula and qrng.

Mixture models for multivariate extremes

Marc-Olivier Boldi

This thesis is a contribution to multivariate extreme value statistics. The tail of a multivariate distribution function is characterized by its spectral distribution, for which we propose a new semi-parametric model based on mixtures of Dirichlet distributions. To estimate the components of this model, reversible jump Monte Carlo Markov chain and EM algorithms are developed. Their performances are illustrated on real and simulated data, obtained using new representations of the extremal logistic and Dirichlet models. In parallel with the estimation of the spectral distribution, extreme value statistic machinery requires the selection of a threshold in order to classify data as extreme or not. This selection is achieved by a new method based on heuristic arguments. It allows a selection independent of the dimension of the data. Its performance is illustrated on real and simulated data. Primal scientific interests behind a multivariate extreme value analysis reside in the estimation of quantiles of rare events and in the exploration of the dependence structure, for which the estimation of the spectral measure is a means rather than an end. These two issues are addressed. For the first, a Monte Carlo method is developed based on simulation of extremes. It is compared with classical and new methods of the literature. For the second one, an original conditional dependence analysis is proposed, which enlightens various aspects of the dependence structure of the data. Examples using real data sets are given. In the last part, the semi-parametric model and the presented methods are extended to spatial extremes. It is made possible by considering the spectral distribution as the distribution of a random probability, an original viewpoint adopted throughout this thesis. Classical multivariate extremes are extended to extremes of random measures. The application is illustrated on rainfall data in China.

EPFL2004

Contributions to Likelihood-Based Modelling of Extreme Values

Léo Raymond-Belzile

xtreme value analysis is concerned with the modelling of extreme events such as floods and heatwaves, which can have large impacts. Statistical modelling can be useful to better assess risks even if, due to scarcity of measurements, there is inherently very large residual uncertainty in any analysis. Driven by the increase in environmental databases, spatial modelling of extremes has expanded rapidly in the last decade. This thesis presents contributions to such analysis. The first chapter is about likelihood-based inference in the univariate setting and investigates the use of bias-correction and higher-order asymptotic methods for extremes, highlighting through examples and illustrations the unique challenge posed by data scarcity. We focus on parametric modelling of extreme values, which relies on limiting distributional results and for which, as a result, uncertainty quantification is complicated. We find that, in certain cases, small-sample asymptotic methods can give improved inference by reducing the error rate of confidence intervals. Two data illustrations, linked to assessment of the frequency of extreme rainfall episodes in Venezuela and the analysis of survival of supercentenarians, illustrate the methods developed. In the second chapter, we review the major methods for the analysis of spatial extremes models. We highlight the similarities and provide a thorough literature review along with novel simulation algorithms. The methods described therein are made available through a statistical software package. The last chapter focuses on estimation for a Bayesian hierarchical model derived from a multivariate generalized Pareto process. We review approaches for the estimation of censored components in models derived from (log)-elliptical distributions, paying particular attention to the estimation of a high-dimensional Gaussian distribution function via Monte Carlo methods. The impacts of model misspecification and of censoring are explored through extensive simulations and we conclude with a case study of rainfall extremes in Eastern Switzerland.

EPFL2019

Contributions to Likelihood-Based Modelling of Extreme Values

Léo Raymond-Belzile

EPFL2019