Introduction to Bayesian Estimation and Copula Models of Dependence

Introduction

Why does anyone need another book in Bayesian statistics? It seems that there already exist a lot of resources for those interested in the topic. There are many excellent books covering specific aspects of Bayesian analysis or providing a wide and comprehensive background of the entire field: Berger, Bernardo and Smith, Gamerman and Freitas Lopes, Gelman et al., Robert and Cassella, and many others. Most of these books, though, will assume a certain mathematical and statistical background and would rather fit a reader’s profile of a graduate or advanced graduate level. Out of those aimed at a less sophisticated audiences, we would certainly recommend excellent books of William Bolstad, John Kruschke, and Peter Lee. There also exist some very good books on copulas: comprehensive coverage by Nelsen and Joe, and also more application-related Cherubini et al., Emrechts et al., and some others. However, instead of just referring to these works and returning to our extensive to-do lists, we decided to spend considerable amount of time and effort putting together another book—the book we presently offer to the reader.

The main reason for our endeavor is: we target a very specific audience, which as we believe is not sufficiently serviced yet with Bayesian literature. We communicate with members of this audience routinely in our day-to-day work, and we have not failed to register that just providing them with reading recommendations does not seem to satisfy their needs. ...