Models beyond the Dirichlet process Antonio Lijoi Igor Prünster No. 129 December 2009 www.carloalberto.org/working_papers © 2009 by Antonio Lijoi and Igor Prünster. Any opinions expressed here are those of the authors and not those of the Collegio Carlo Alberto. Models beyond the Dirichlet process Antonio Lijoi1 and Igor Prunster¨ 2 1 Dipartimento Economia Politica e Metodi Quantitatavi, Universit`adegli Studi di Pavia, via San Felice 5, 27100 Pavia, Italy and CNR{IMATI, via Bassini 15, 20133 Milano. E-mail:
[email protected] 2 Dipartimento di Statistica e Matematica Applicata, Collegio Carlo Alberto and ICER, Universit`a degli Studi di Torino, Corso Unione Sovietica 218/bis, 10134 Torino, Italy. E-mail:
[email protected] September 2009 Abstract. Bayesian nonparametric inference is a relatively young area of research and it has recently undergone a strong development. Most of its success can be explained by the considerable degree of flexibility it ensures in statistical modelling, if compared to parametric alternatives, and by the emergence of new and efficient simulation techniques that make nonparametric models amenable to concrete use in a number of applied sta- tistical problems. Since its introduction in 1973 by T.S. Ferguson, the Dirichlet process has emerged as a cornerstone in Bayesian nonparametrics. Nonetheless, in some cases of interest for statistical applications the Dirichlet process is not an adequate prior choice and alternative nonparametric models need to be devised. In this paper we provide a review of Bayesian nonparametric models that go beyond the Dirichlet process. 1 Introduction Bayesian nonparametric inference is a relatively young area of research and it has recently under- gone a strong development.