diff --git a/R/bsvarSIGNs-package.R b/R/bsvarSIGNs-package.R
index fa0ec55..cc935ec 100644
--- a/R/bsvarSIGNs-package.R
+++ b/R/bsvarSIGNs-package.R
@@ -1,14 +1,107 @@
-#' @title Bayesian Estimation of Structural Vector Autoregressive Models Identified by Sign and Narrative Restrictions
+# #####################################################################################
+# R package bsvarSIGNs by Xiaolei Wang Tomasz Woźniak Copyright (C) 2024
+#
+# This file is part of the R package bsvarSIGNs: Bayesian Estimation of Structural
+# Vector Autoregressions Identified by Sign, Zero, and Narrative Restrictions
+#
+# The R package bsvarSIGNs is free software: you can redistribute it
+# and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
+# as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 or
+# any later version of the License.
+#
+# The R package bsvarSIGNs is distributed in the hope that it will be
+# useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty
+# of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+# General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with the R package bsvarSIGNs. If that is not the case, please
+# refer to .
+# #####################################################################################
+#
+#' @title Bayesian Estimation of Structural Vector Autoregressions Identified
+#' by Sign, Zero, and Narrative Restrictions
#'
-#' @description Implements efficient algorithms for the Bayesian estimation of
-#' Stuructural Vector Autoregressive models identified by sign and narrative
-#' restrictions following Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010)
-#' and Antolín-Díaz & Rubio-Ramírez (2018)
-#' .
-# #' @details
+#' @description Implements state-of-the-art algorithms for the Bayesian analysis
+#' of Structural Vector Autoregressions identified by sign, zero, and narrative
+#' restrictions. The core model is based on the flexible Vector Autoregression
+#' with the estimated hyper-parameters of the Minnesota prior as in
+#' Giannone, Lenza, Primiceri (2015) . The sign
+#' restrictions are implemented employing the methods outlined by
+#' Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010) ,
+#' while identification through sign and zero restrictions follows the approach
+#' developed by Arias, Rubio-Ramírez, & Waggoner (2018) .
+#' Furthermore, our tool provides algorithms for identification via sign and
+#' narrative restrictions, in line with the methods introduced by
+#' Antolín-Díaz and Rubio-Ramírez (2018) . Users can
+#' also estimate a model with sign, zero, and narrative restrictions imposed at
+#' once. The package facilitates predictive and structural analyses using
+#' impulse responses, forecast error variance and historical decompositions,
+#' forecasting and conditional forecasting, as well as analyses of structural
+#' shocks and fitted values. All this is complemented by colourful plots,
+#' user-friendly summary functions, and comprehensive documentation. The
+#' `bsvarSIGNs` package is aligned regarding code structure, objects, and
+#' workflows with the R package 'bsvars' by
+#' Woźniak (2024) , and they constitute an
+#' integrated toolset.
+#'
+#' @details
+#'
+#' \strong{Models.} All the SVAR models in this package are specified by two
+#' equations, including the reduced form equation:
+#' \deqn{y_t = Ax_t + \epsilon_t}
+#' where \eqn{y_t} is an \code{N}-vector of dependent variables,
+#' \eqn{x_t} is a \code{K}-vector of explanatory variables,
+#' \eqn{\epsilon_t} is an \code{N}-vector of reduced form error terms,
+#' and \eqn{A} is an \code{NxK} matrix of autoregressive slope coefficients and
+#' parameters on deterministic terms in \eqn{x_t}.
+#'
+#' The structural equation is given by:
+#' \deqn{B\epsilon_t = u_t}
+#' where \eqn{u_t} is an \code{N}-vector of structural shocks, and
+#' \eqn{B} is an \code{NxN} matrix of contemporaneous relationships.
+#'
+#' Finally, all of the models share the following assumptions regarding the
+#' structural shocks \code{u_t}, namely, joint conditional normality given the
+#' past observations collected in matrix \code{x_t}, and temporal and
+#' contemporaneous independence. The latter implies zero correlations and
+#' autocorrelations.
+#'
+#' \strong{Identification.} The identification of the SVAR model is achieved by
+#' imposing:
+#' \itemize{
+#' \item sign restrictions on the structural matrix \eqn{B},
+#' \item sign and zero restrictions on the zero-horizon impulse responses \eqn{\Theta_0 = B^{-1}},
+#' \item sign restrictions on the impulse responses at other horizons \eqn{\Theta_i} for \eqn{i = 1, 2, \ldots},
+#' \item sign restrictions on selected structural shocks \eqn{u_t},
+#' \item two types of sign restrictions on the historical decompositions.
+#' }
+#' These restrictions determine the sampling algorithms of the structural matrix
+#' \eqn{B} defined as
+#' \deqn{B = Q'L}
+#' where \eqn{Q} is an \code{NxN} orthogonal matrix and \eqn{L} is a lower-triangular
+#' matrix \eqn{L = chol(\Sigma)^{-1}}, and \eqn{\Sigma} is the \code{NxN}
+#' conditional covariance matrix of the reduced-form error term \eqn{\epsilon_t}.
+#' Consult the original papers by Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010),
+#' Arias, Rubio-Ramírez, & Waggoner (2018) and Antolín-Díaz and Rubio-Ramírez (2018)
+#' for more details.
+#'
+#' \strong{Prior distributions.} All the models feature a hierarchical Minnesota
+#' prior following the specification proposed by Giannone, Lenza, Primiceri (2015)
+#' and featuring:
+#' \itemize{
+#' \item appropriate handling of unit-root non-stationary variables through
+#' the prior mean of the autoregressive coefficients \eqn{A},
+#' \item normal prior shrinkage exhibiting exponential decay in the lag order
+#' of the autoregressive matrices,
+#' \item sum-of-coefficients and dummy-initial-observation prior,
+#' \item estimated shrinkage hyper-parameters,
+#' \item inverse-Wishart prior for the reduced-form covariance matrix \eqn{\Sigma},
+#' \item estimated diagonal elements of the inverse-Wishart prior scale matrix.
+#' }
+#'
#' @name bsvarSIGNs-package
#' @aliases bsvarSIGNs-package bsvarSIGNs
-#' "_PACKAGE"
#' @useDynLib bsvarSIGNs, .registration = TRUE
#' @importFrom R6 R6Class
#' @importFrom Rcpp sourceCpp
@@ -16,18 +109,35 @@
#' @import bsvars
#' @import RcppArmadillo
#' @import RcppProgress
-#' @note This package is currently in active development. We give no
-#' warranty that anything here works.
-#' @author Xiaolei Wang \email{adamwang15@gmail.com} Tomasz Woźniak \email{wozniak.tom@pm.me}
+#'
+#' @note This package is currently in active development. Your comments,
+#' suggestions and requests are warmly welcome!
+#'
+#' @author Xiaolei Wang \email{adamwang15@gmail.com} & Tomasz Woźniak \email{wozniak.tom@pm.me}
+#'
#' @references
+#' Antolín-Díaz & Rubio-Ramírez (2018) Narrative Sign Restrictions for SVARs, American Economic Review, 108(10), 2802-29, .
+#'
+#' Arias, Rubio-Ramírez, & Waggoner (2018), Inference Based on Structural Vector Autoregressions Identified With Sign and Zero Restrictions: Theory and Applications, Econometrica, 86(2), 685-720, .
+#'
+#' Giannone, Lenza, Primiceri (2015) Prior Selection for Vector Autoregressions, Review of Economics and Statistics, 97(2), 436-451 .
+#'
#' Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010) Structural Vector Autoregressions: Theory of Identification and Algorithms for Inference, The Review of Economic Studies, 77(2), 665-696, .
#'
-#' Antolín-Díaz & Rubio-Ramírez (2018) Narrative Sign Restrictions for SVARs, American Economic Review, 108(10), 2802-29, .
+#' Woźniak (2024) bsvars: Bayesian Estimation of Structural Vector Autoregressive Models. R package version 3.1, .
+#'
#' @examples
+#' # specify sign and zero restrictions on the impulse response
#' sign_irf = matrix(c(0, 1, rep(NA, 23)), 5, 5)
+#'
+#' # specify the model
#' spec = specify_bsvarSIGN$new(optimism * 100,
#' p = 4,
#' sign_irf = sign_irf)
+#'
+#' # estimate the hyper-parameters
#' spec$prior$estimate_hyper()
+#'
+#' # estimate the model
#' post = estimate(spec, S = 1000)
NULL
diff --git a/man/bsvarSIGNs-package.Rd b/man/bsvarSIGNs-package.Rd
index 240ed71..131bbff 100644
--- a/man/bsvarSIGNs-package.Rd
+++ b/man/bsvarSIGNs-package.Rd
@@ -3,32 +3,116 @@
\name{bsvarSIGNs-package}
\alias{bsvarSIGNs-package}
\alias{bsvarSIGNs}
-\alias{"_PACKAGE"}
-\title{Bayesian Estimation of Structural Vector Autoregressive Models Identified by Sign and Narrative Restrictions}
+\title{Bayesian Estimation of Structural Vector Autoregressions Identified
+by Sign, Zero, and Narrative Restrictions}
\description{
-Implements efficient algorithms for the Bayesian estimation of
-Stuructural Vector Autoregressive models identified by sign and narrative
-restrictions following Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010)
- and Antolín-Díaz & Rubio-Ramírez (2018)
-.
+Implements state-of-the-art algorithms for the Bayesian analysis
+of Structural Vector Autoregressions identified by sign, zero, and narrative
+restrictions. The core model is based on the flexible Vector Autoregression
+with the estimated hyper-parameters of the Minnesota prior as in
+Giannone, Lenza, Primiceri (2015) . The sign
+restrictions are implemented employing the methods outlined by
+Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010) ,
+while identification through sign and zero restrictions follows the approach
+developed by Arias, Rubio-Ramírez, & Waggoner (2018) .
+Furthermore, our tool provides algorithms for identification via sign and
+narrative restrictions, in line with the methods introduced by
+Antolín-Díaz and Rubio-Ramírez (2018) . Users can
+also estimate a model with sign, zero, and narrative restrictions imposed at
+once. The package facilitates predictive and structural analyses using
+impulse responses, forecast error variance and historical decompositions,
+forecasting and conditional forecasting, as well as analyses of structural
+shocks and fitted values. All this is complemented by colourful plots,
+user-friendly summary functions, and comprehensive documentation. The
+`bsvarSIGNs` package is aligned regarding code structure, objects, and
+workflows with the R package 'bsvars' by
+Woźniak (2024) , and they constitute an
+integrated toolset.
+}
+\details{
+\strong{Models.} All the SVAR models in this package are specified by two
+equations, including the reduced form equation:
+\deqn{y_t = Ax_t + \epsilon_t}
+where \eqn{y_t} is an \code{N}-vector of dependent variables,
+\eqn{x_t} is a \code{K}-vector of explanatory variables,
+\eqn{\epsilon_t} is an \code{N}-vector of reduced form error terms,
+and \eqn{A} is an \code{NxK} matrix of autoregressive slope coefficients and
+parameters on deterministic terms in \eqn{x_t}.
+
+The structural equation is given by:
+\deqn{B\epsilon_t = u_t}
+where \eqn{u_t} is an \code{N}-vector of structural shocks, and
+\eqn{B} is an \code{NxN} matrix of contemporaneous relationships.
+
+Finally, all of the models share the following assumptions regarding the
+structural shocks \code{u_t}, namely, joint conditional normality given the
+past observations collected in matrix \code{x_t}, and temporal and
+contemporaneous independence. The latter implies zero correlations and
+autocorrelations.
+
+\strong{Identification.} The identification of the SVAR model is achieved by
+imposing:
+\itemize{
+ \item sign restrictions on the structural matrix \eqn{B},
+ \item sign and zero restrictions on the zero-horizon impulse responses \eqn{\Theta_0 = B^{-1}},
+ \item sign restrictions on the impulse responses at other horizons \eqn{\Theta_i} for \eqn{i = 1, 2, \ldots},
+ \item sign restrictions on selected structural shocks \eqn{u_t},
+ \item two types of sign restrictions on the historical decompositions.
+}
+These restrictions determine the sampling algorithms of the structural matrix
+\eqn{B} defined as
+\deqn{B = Q'L}
+where \eqn{Q} is an \code{NxN} orthogonal matrix and \eqn{L} is a lower-triangular
+matrix \eqn{L = chol(\Sigma)^{-1}}, and \eqn{\Sigma} is the \code{NxN}
+conditional covariance matrix of the reduced-form error term \eqn{\epsilon_t}.
+Consult the original papers by Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010),
+Arias, Rubio-Ramírez, & Waggoner (2018) and Antolín-Díaz and Rubio-Ramírez (2018)
+for more details.
+
+\strong{Prior distributions.} All the models feature a hierarchical Minnesota
+prior following the specification proposed by Giannone, Lenza, Primiceri (2015)
+and featuring:
+\itemize{
+ \item appropriate handling of unit-root non-stationary variables through
+ the prior mean of the autoregressive coefficients \eqn{A},
+ \item normal prior shrinkage exhibiting exponential decay in the lag order
+ of the autoregressive matrices,
+ \item sum-of-coefficients and dummy-initial-observation prior,
+ \item estimated shrinkage hyper-parameters,
+ \item inverse-Wishart prior for the reduced-form covariance matrix \eqn{\Sigma},
+ \item estimated diagonal elements of the inverse-Wishart prior scale matrix.
+}
}
\note{
-This package is currently in active development. We give no
-warranty that anything here works.
+This package is currently in active development. Your comments,
+suggestions and requests are warmly welcome!
}
\examples{
+# specify sign and zero restrictions on the impulse response
sign_irf = matrix(c(0, 1, rep(NA, 23)), 5, 5)
+
+# specify the model
spec = specify_bsvarSIGN$new(optimism * 100,
p = 4,
sign_irf = sign_irf)
+
+# estimate the hyper-parameters
spec$prior$estimate_hyper()
+
+# estimate the model
post = estimate(spec, S = 1000)
}
\references{
-Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010) Structural Vector Autoregressions: Theory of Identification and Algorithms for Inference, The Review of Economic Studies, 77(2), 665-696, .
+Antolín-Díaz & Rubio-Ramírez (2018) Narrative Sign Restrictions for SVARs, American Economic Review, 108(10), 2802-29, .
+
+ Arias, Rubio-Ramírez, & Waggoner (2018), Inference Based on Structural Vector Autoregressions Identified With Sign and Zero Restrictions: Theory and Applications, Econometrica, 86(2), 685-720, .
+
+ Giannone, Lenza, Primiceri (2015) Prior Selection for Vector Autoregressions, Review of Economics and Statistics, 97(2), 436-451 .
+
+ Rubio-Ramírez, Waggoner & Zha (2010) Structural Vector Autoregressions: Theory of Identification and Algorithms for Inference, The Review of Economic Studies, 77(2), 665-696, .
- Antolín-Díaz & Rubio-Ramírez (2018) Narrative Sign Restrictions for SVARs, American Economic Review, 108(10), 2802-29, .
+ Woźniak (2024) bsvars: Bayesian Estimation of Structural Vector Autoregressive Models. R package version 3.1, .
}
\author{
-Xiaolei Wang \email{adamwang15@gmail.com} Tomasz Woźniak \email{wozniak.tom@pm.me}
+Xiaolei Wang \email{adamwang15@gmail.com} & Tomasz Woźniak \email{wozniak.tom@pm.me}
}