Modeling and inference for multivariate time series of counts based on the INGARCH scheme

Modeling multivariate time series of counts using the integer-valued generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (INGARCH) scheme is proposed. The key idea is to model each component of the time series with a univariate INGARCH model, where the conditional distribution is modeled with a one-parameter exponential family distribution, and to use a (nonlinear) parametric function of all components to recursively produce the conditional means. It is shown that the proposed multivariate INGARCH (MINGARCH) model is strictly stationary and ergodic. For inference, the quasi-maximum likelihood estimator (QMLE) and the minimum density power divergence estimator (MDPDE) for robust estimation are adopted, and their consistency and asymptotic normality are verified. As an application, the change point test based on the QMLE and MDPDE is illustrated. The Monte Carlo simulation study and real data analysis using the number of weekly syphilis cases in the United States are conducted to confirm the validity of the proposed method.