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arXiv research

A locally-built, LLM-digested index of recent arXiv papers in quant finance, geometry/topology, and statistical ML — keyword search served straight from SQLite on this machine.

168,694 papers · 148 categories

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51101152202 · Jun 202019922001200920172026
48 results for Prior Elicitation

Proposes method for eliciting non-parametric joint priors using normalizing flows.

problem Learning complex non-parametric joint priors for model parameters.
method Expert elicitation combined with normalizing flows for generative modeling.
result Framework supports elicitation of both parametric and non-parametric priors.

Develops a simulation-based method to translate expert knowledge into prior distributions for Bayesian models.

problem Effective incorporation of expert knowledge into prior distributions for diverse model structures.
method Simulation-based stochastic gradient descent to learn hyperparameters of parametric priors from expert knowledge.
result Method is adaptable to various elicitation techniques and independent of model structure.

A method for eliciting expert beliefs using preferential questions and normalizing flows.

problem Eliciting high-dimensional probability distributions from noisy judgments.
method Normalizing flows based on preferential questions with a novel functional prior.
result The method allows for the inference of arbitrarily flexible densities from preferential judgments.

PPT optimizes transformer behavior by steering its latent posterior using prior samples.

problem Eliciting desired behavior from transformers without backpropagation.
method Posterior Prefix Tuning (PPT) uses predictive Monte Carlo (PMC) samples and importance sampling to optimize the latent posterior.
result PPT optimizes transformer behavior without backpropagation, achieving high utility across different utility functions.

AutoElicit uses LLMs to quickly create expert priors for predictive models.

problem Creating accurate priors for predictive models is time-consuming and costly.
method AutoElicit extracts knowledge from LLMs to construct priors for predictive models.
result AutoElicit yields priors that reduce error and save labelling effort.

Informative Bayesian priors are often difficult to elicit, and when this is the case, modelers usually turn to noninformative or objective priors. However, objective priors such as the Jeffreys and reference priors are not tractable to derive for many models of interest. We address this issue by proposing techniques fo…

2017-04-04abs ↗pdf ↗

The paper introduces a method to incorporate expert opinion on observable quantities into statistical models.

problem Tackling the challenge of integrating expert knowledge on observable quantities into statistical models.
method The approach involves updating a prior belief using a loss function that reflects expert opinion on observable quantities.
result The method allows for a flexible specification of expert opinion and is straightforward to implement.

This paper develops a new method for eliciting more flexible metrics, improving fairness and applicability.

problem Limited flexibility in existing metric elicitation strategies for reflecting user preferences.
method Develops a strategy for eliciting quadratic metrics based on predictive rates, requiring only relative preference feedback.
result Achieves near-optimal query complexity and broadens the use cases for metric elicitation.

A property, or statistical functional, is said to be elicitable if it minimizes expected loss for some loss function. The study of which properties are elicitable sheds light on the capabilities and limitations of point estimation and empirical risk minimization. While recent work asks which properties are elicitable, …

2015-06-23abs ↗pdf ↗

Proposes a method to select fair performance metrics through metric elicitation.

problem Choosing fair performance metrics in multiclass classification with multiple sensitive groups.
method Metric elicitation strategy that requires only relative preference feedback and is robust to noise.
result Elicits group-fair performance metrics for multiclass classification problems.

We discuss equivalent axiomatic characterizations of distortion risk measures, and give a novel and concise proof of the characterization of elicitable distortion risk measures. Elicitability has recently been discussed as a desirable criterion for risk measures, motivated by statistical considerations of forecasting. …

2014-05-15abs ↗pdf ↗

Robustifies elicitable functionals to handle small distribution misspecifications.

problem Determining uniquely optimal forecasts under distributional misspecification.
method Integrates statistical robustness into elicitable functionals using Kullback-Leibler divergence.
result Robust elicitable functionals admit unique solutions at the boundary of uncertainty regions.

A statistical functional, such as the mean or the median, is called elicitable if there is a scoring function or loss function such that the correct forecast of the functional is the unique minimizer of the expected score. Such scoring functions are called strictly consistent for the functional. The elicitability of a …

2015-03-27abs ↗pdf ↗

It is important to collect credible training samples (x,y)(x,y) for building data-intensive learning systems (e.g., a deep learning system). Asking people to report complex distribution p(x)p(x), though theoretically viable, is challenging in practice. This is primarily due to the cognitive loads required for human agents t…

2019-10-08abs ↗pdf ↗

Given a binary prediction problem, which performance metric should the classifier optimize? We address this question by formalizing the problem of Metric Elicitation. The goal of metric elicitation is to discover the performance metric of a practitioner, which reflects her innate rewards (costs) for correct (incorrect)…

2018-06-05abs ↗pdf ↗

The paper analyzes elicitability of return risk measures and their scoring functions.

problem Elicitability of return risk measures and their scoring functions.
method Dual representation results for convex and geometrically convex return risk measures, axiomatic characterizations of Orlicz premia, and construction of strictly consistent scoring functions.
result Orlicz premia are the only elicitable return risk measures under different sets of conditions.

Model uses LLMs to process numerical data guided by natural language descriptions.

problem Challenges in integrating prior knowledge into probabilistic models.
method Developed LLM Processes to condition numerical predictive distributions on natural language.
result Improved predictive performance and structured qualitative descriptions.

The risk of a financial position is usually summarized by a risk measure. As this risk measure has to be estimated from historical data, it is important to be able to verify and compare competing estimation procedures. In statistical decision theory, risk measures for which such verification and comparison is possible,…

2013-03-07abs ↗pdf ↗

In this paper, we derive a Bayesian model order selection rule by using the exponentially embedded family method, termed Bayesian EEF. Unlike many other Bayesian model selection methods, the Bayesian EEF can use vague proper priors and improper noninformative priors to be objective in the elicitation of parameter prior…

2017-03-30abs ↗pdf ↗

We consider settings in which the right notion of fairness is not captured by simple mathematical definitions (such as equality of error rates across groups), but might be more complex and nuanced and thus require elicitation from individual or collective stakeholders. We introduce a framework in which pairs of individ…

2019-05-25abs ↗pdf ↗

New algorithm achieves faster multicalibration in online settings.

problem Achieving fair predictions in online settings with limited interaction.
method Generalized multicalibration to arbitrary bounded hypothesis classes and introduced swap multicalibration. Proposed an oracle-efficient algorithm achieving faster multicalibration error.
result Oracle-efficient algorithm achieves T1/(r+1)T^{1/(r+1)} r\ell_r-swap multicalibration error with high probability, improving on previous bounds.

High-dimensional prediction is a challenging problem setting for traditional statistical models. Although regularization improves model performance in high dimensions, it does not sufficiently leverage knowledge on feature importances held by domain experts. As an alternative to standard regularization techniques, we p…

2019-12-09abs ↗pdf ↗

We generalise the problem of inverse reinforcement learning to multiple tasks, from multiple demonstrations. Each one may represent one expert trying to solve a different task, or as different experts trying to solve the same task. Our main contribution is to formalise the problem as statistical preference elicitation,…

2011-06-18abs ↗pdf ↗

Framework uses IRL and RL to elicit and optimize risk preferences robustly to noise.

problem Eliciting and optimizing risk preferences in noisy environments.
method Adaptive Bayesian IRL for elicitation, model-free RL for optimization, using quantile networks.
result Framework achieves convergence rate of O(exp(cm+O(mlogm)))O(\exp(-cm+O(\sqrt{m\log m}))).

We propose a cost-effective framework for preference elicitation and aggregation under the Plackett-Luce model with features. Given a budget, our framework iteratively computes the most cost-effective elicitation questions in order to help the agents make a better group decision. We illustrate the viability of the fram…

2018-05-14abs ↗pdf ↗

Paper proposes incentives for federated learning to ensure truthful contributions.

problem Ensuring truthful contributions from decentralized users in federated learning.
method Introduces a scoring rule based framework to incentivize truthful reporting of local hypotheses at a Bayesian Nash Equilibrium.
result Proposed solution verified using MNIST and CIFAR-10 datasets, showing decreasing scores for low-quality hypotheses.

A framework for eliciting utility functions from investor preferences.

problem Hard elicitation of specific utility functions in portfolio selection.
method Preference-fitting method using probability-wealth pairs and PHARA approximation.
result Fitted utility function converges to the optimal one as more data is used.

This work tackles the challenge of Bayesian deep learning by proposing a new framework for matching Gaussian process priors with neural network parameters.

problem The challenge of specifying priors over neural network parameters, which affects the induced functional prior and is uncontrolled.
method The approach involves defining functional priors using Gaussian processes and matching these priors with the functional prior of neural networks through the minimization of Wasserstein distance.
result The proposed framework offers systematic performance improvements over alternative priors and approximate Bayesian deep learning approaches.

Requirements elicitation can be very challenging in projects that require deep domain knowledge about the system at hand. As analysts have the full control over the elicitation process, their lack of knowledge about the system under study inhibits them from asking related questions and reduces the accuracy of requireme…

2018-07-10abs ↗pdf ↗

Study uses property elicitation to understand how fairness regularizers affect optimal decisions.

problem Understanding how fairness regularizers change the optimal decision in predictive algorithms.
method Property elicitation to analyze the relationship between loss, regularization, and optimal decision.
result Necessary and sufficient condition for when a property changes with the addition of a regularizer.