Bayesian Inference in Dynamic Disequilibrium Models: An Application to the Polish Credit Market

Abstract

We review Bayesian inference for dynamic latent variable models using the data augmentation principle. We detail the difficulties of simulating dynamic latent variables in a Gibbs sampler. We propose an alternative specification of the dynamic disequilibrium model which leads to a simple simulation procedure and renders Bayesian inference fully operational. Identification issues are discussed. We conduct a specification search using the posterior deviance criterion of Spiegelhalter, Best, Carlin, and van der Linde (2002) for a disequilibrium model of the Polish credit market.

Keywords: Latent variables, disequilibrium models, Bayesian inference, Gibbs sampler, credit rationing

JEL Classification: C11, C32, C34, E51