A skew-normal dynamic linear model and Bayesian forecasting

Abstract

Dynamic linear models are typically developed assuming that both the observational and system distributions are normal. In this work, we relax this assumption by considering a skew-normal distribution for the observational random errors, providing thus an extension of the standard normal dynamic linear model. Full Bayesian inference is carried out using the hierarchical representation of the model. The inference scheme is led by means of the adaptation of the Forward Filtering Backward sampling and the usual MCMC algorithms to perform the inference. The proposed methodology is illustrated by a simulation study and applied to the condition factor index of male and female anchovies off northern Chile. These indexes have not been studied in a dynamic linear model framework.