Rejection Control and Sequential Importance Sampling
Abstract We discuss ways of combining rejection sampling and importance sampling methods in Monte Carlo computations and demonstrate their usefulness in updating dynamic systems. Specifically, we propose the rejection controlled sequential importance sampling (RC-SIS) algorithm, which is designed to simultaneously reduce Monte Carlo variation and retain independent samples in sequential importance sampling. The proposed method is demonstrated by three examples taken from econometrics, hierarchical Bayes analysis, and digital telecommunications. They all show significant improvements over previous results.