RW2_Seas: Second-Order Random Walk Prior with Seasonal Effect

In bage: Bayesian Estimation and Forecasting of Age-Specific Rates

Second-Order Random Walk Prior with Seasonal Effect

Description

Use a second-oder random walk with seasonal effects as a model for a main effect, or use multiple second-order random walks, each with their own seasonal effects, as a model for an interaction. Typically used with temrs that involve time.

Usage

RW2_Seas(
  n_seas,
  s_seas,
  s = 1,
  sd = 1,
  sd_slope = 1,
  sd_seas = 1,
  along = NULL,
  con = c("none", "by")
)

Arguments

n_seas	Number of seasons
s_seas	Scale for innovations in seasonal effects. Can be 0. When greater than 0, seasonal effects vary from year to year.
s	Scale for prior for innovations in random walk. Default is 1.
sd	Standard deviation of initial value. Default is 1. Can be 0.
sd_slope	Standard deviation for initial slope of random walk. Default is 1.
sd_seas	Standard deviation for initial values of seasonal effects. Default is 1.
along	Name of the variable to be used as the 'along' variable. Only used with interactions.
con	Constraints on parameters. Current choices are "none" and "by". Default is "none". See below for details.

Details

If RW2_Seas() is used with an interaction, a separate series is constructed within each combination of the 'by' variables.

Argument s controls the size of innovations in the random walk. Smaller values for s tend to produce smoother series.

Argument n_seas controls the number of seasons. When using quarterly data, for instance, n_seas should be 4.

Setting s_seas to 0 produces seasonal effects that are the same each year. Setting s_seas to a value greater than 0 produces seasonal effects that evolve over time.

Value

Object of class "bage_prior_rw2randomseasvary", "bage_prior_rw2randomseasfix", "bage_prior_rw2zeroseasvary", or "bage_prior_rw2zeroseasfix".

Mathematical details

When RW2_Seas() is used with a main effect,

\beta_j = \alpha_j + \lambda_j, \quad j = 1, \cdots, J

\alpha_1 \sim \text{N}(0, \mathtt{sd}^2)

\alpha_2 \sim \text{N}(0, \mathtt{sd\_slope}^2)

\alpha_j \sim \text{N}(2 \alpha_{j-1} - \alpha_{j-2}, \tau^2), \quad j = 3, \cdots, J

\lambda_j \sim \text{N}(0, \mathtt{sd\_seas}^2), \quad j = 1, \cdots, \mathtt{n\_seas} - 1

\lambda_j = -\sum_{s=1}^{\mathtt{n\_seas} - 1} \lambda_{j - s}, \quad j = \mathtt{n\_seas}, 2 \mathtt{n\_seas}, \cdots

\lambda_j \sim \text{N}(\lambda_{j-\mathtt{n\_seas}}, \omega^2), \quad \text{otherwise},

and when it is used with an interaction,

\beta_{u,v} = \alpha_{u,v} + \lambda_{u,v}, \quad v = 1, \cdots, V

\alpha_{u,1} \sim \text{N}(0, \mathtt{sd}^2)

\alpha_{u,2} \sim \text{N}(0, \mathtt{sd\_slope}^2)

\alpha_{u,v} \sim \text{N}(2 \alpha_{u,v-1} - \alpha_{u,v-2}, \tau^2), \quad v = 3, \cdots, V

\lambda_{u,v} \sim \text{N}(0, \mathtt{sd\_seas}^2), \quad v = 1, \cdots, \mathtt{n\_seas} - 1

\lambda_{u,v} = -\sum_{s=1}^{\mathtt{n\_seas} - 1} \lambda_{u,v - s}, \quad v = \mathtt{n\_seas}, 2 \mathtt{n\_seas}, \cdots

\lambda_{u,v} \sim \text{N}(\lambda_{u,v-\mathtt{n\_seas}}, \omega^2), \quad \text{otherwise},

where

• \pmb{\beta} is the main effect or interaction;

• \alpha_j or \alpha_{u,v} is an element of the random walk;

• \lambda_j or \lambda_{u,v} is an element of the seasonal effect;

• j denotes position within the main effect;

• v denotes position within the 'along' variable of the interaction; and

• u denotes position within the 'by' variable(s) of the interaction.

Parameter \omega has a half-normal prior

\omega \sim \text{N}^+(0, \mathtt{s\_seas}^2)

. If s_seas is set to 0, then \omega is 0, and the seasonal effects are fixed over time.

Parameter \tau has a half-normal prior

\tau \sim \text{N}^+(0, \mathtt{s}^2)

.

Constraints

The specification of constraints is likely to change in future versions of bage.

With some combinations of terms and priors, the values of the intercept, main effects, and interactions are are only weakly identified. For instance, it may be possible to increase the value of the intercept and reduce the value of the remaining terms in the model with no effect on predicted rates and only a tiny effect on prior probabilities. This weak identifiability is typically harmless. However, in some applications, such as when trying to obtain interpretable values for main effects and interactions, it can be helpful to increase identifiability through the use of constraints, specified through the con argument.

Current options for con are:

• "none" No constraints. The default.

• "by" Only used in interaction terms that include 'along' and 'by' dimensions. Within each value of the 'along' dimension, terms across each 'by' dimension are constrained to sum to 0.

See Also

• RW2() Second-order random walk without seasonal effect

• RW_Seas() Random walk with seasonal effect

• priors Overview of priors implemented in bage

• set_prior() Specify prior for intercept, main effect, or interaction

• Mathematical Details vignette

Examples

## seasonal effects fixed
RW2_Seas(n_seas = 4, s_seas = 0)

## seasonal effects evolve
RW2_Seas(n_seas = 4, s_seas = 1)

## first term in random walk fixed at 0
RW2_Seas(n_seas = 4, s_seas = 1, sd = 0)       

bage documentation built on Feb. 22, 2026, 5:07 p.m.