An Introduction to Copulas (Lecture Notes in Statistics) [Paperback]

Roger B. Nelsen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0387986235 | ISBN-13: 978-0387986234 | Publication Date: October 23, 1998 | Edition: 1

Copulas are functions that join multivariate distribution functions to their one-dimensional margins. The study of copulas and their role in statistics is a new but vigorously growing field. In this book the student or practitioner of statistics and probability will find discussions of the fundamental properties of copulas and some of their primary applications. The applications include the study of dependence and measures of association, and the construction of families of bivariate distributions. With nearly a hundred examples and over 150 exercises, this book is suitable as a text or for self-study. The only prerequisite is an upper level undergraduate course in probability and mathematical statistics, although some familiarity with nonparametric statistics would be useful. Knowledge of measure-theoretic probability is not required. Roger B. Nelsen is Professor of Mathematics at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He is also the author of "Proofs Without Words: Exercises in Visual Thinking," published by the Mathematical Association of America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews of the second edition: "This introductory and informative text on copulas is clearly written and from an educational standpoint will presented. With more than a hundred examples and over 160 exercise, this book is suitable as a textbook or for self-study. The only prerequisite is an upper level undergraduate course in probability and mathematical statistics. The second edition maintains the basic organizing of the material and the general level of presentation as the first one from 1999. The major additions are sections on: copula transformation methods; extreme value copulas; copulas with specific analytic or functional properties; tail dependence and quasi-copulas. " (Piotr Jaworski, Zentrablatt MATH, 2009, 1152) "This introductory and informative text on copulas … is clearly written and from an educational standpoint well presented. … In addition to its primary use as an introductory book on copulas, this text could also serve as a complement to a graduate course or seminar in multivariate analysis focusing on dependence concepts. Readership: people interested in dependence concepts in multivariate analysis. … many will be pleased to have a copy of this new text in their personal library … ." (Radu Theodorescu, Mathematical Reviews, 2006 i) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

Copulas are functions that join multivariate distribution functions to their one-dimensional margins. The study of copulas and their role in statistics is a new but vigorously growing field. In this book the student or practitioner of statistics and probability will find discussions of the fundamental properties of copulas and some of their primary applications. The applications include the study of dependence and measures of association, and the construction of families of bivariate distributions. With 116 examples, 54 figures, and 167 exercises, this book is suitable as a text or for self-study. The only prerequisite is an upper level undergraduate course in probability and mathematical statistics, although some familiarity with nonparametric statistics would be useful. Knowledge of measure-theoretic probability is not required. The revised second edition includes new sections on extreme value copulas, tail dependence, and quasi-copulas. Roger B. Nelsen is Professor of Mathematics at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He is also the author of Proofs Without Words: Exercises in Visual Thinking and Proofs Without Words II: More Exercises in Visual Thinking, published by the Mathematical Association of America. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (October 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387986235
• ISBN-13: 978-0387986234
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,348,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Copula theory - an excellent introduction, July 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: An Introduction to Copulas (Lecture Notes in Statistics) (Paperback)

This is a great introduction to the area for those already possessing good mathematical ability and knowledge of distribution theory. All the seminal theorems and references are in here and the reader would be wise to check them out. Well written and communicated, didn't find any typo's. Enjoyed it. This area is fast growing in the area of mathematical finance.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of `an introduction to copulas', August 31, 2008

By 

Dr. Rose Baker (Salford, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Introduction to Copulas (Springer Series in Statistics) (Hardcover)

This is the second edition of THE book on copulas; there are others, eg Joe, and Drouet and Kotz, but this is the best reference work I know of on this topic. The second edition does not frankly have a huge amount of new content; the most obvious is the very useful set of scatterplots used to illustrate the appearance of copulas. This I think shows up some properties like symmetry better than equations could do. If I had purchased the first edition, I probably wouldn't feel it had been worth upgrading---it depends on how deeply you are `into' this topic. On the other hand it's reassuring that there hasn't been a lot of recent work we didn't know about!

I thoroughly recommend this book, and, if I meet the author, I shall reckon that he owes me a drink.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not helpful to practitioner, March 18, 2010

By 

George F. Corliss "Professor" (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: An Introduction to Copulas (Springer Series in Statistics) (Hardcover)

This may be good as a mathematical treatise, but as a practitioner, I did not find it at all helpful.