# bsvars 4.0

The package is under intensive development, and more functionality will be provided soon! To see the package [ROADMAP](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/milestones) towards the next version.

Have a question, or suggestion, or wanna get in touch? Email us at [contact\@bsvars.org](mailto:contact@bsvars.org) forum.

1.  The model with Student-t structural shocks features now, an estimated equation-specific degrees-of-freedom parameter, see `specify_bsvar_t()` with verified normality using function `verify_identification()` [#84](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/84)
2.  Updated C++ flags to the newest recommended setup as inspired by the PR [#103](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/103) by [\@haansn08](https://github.com/haansn08)
3.  Corrected C++ code for historical decompositions in PR [#108](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/108) by [Adam Wang](https://github.com/adamwang15)
4.  Upon popular request the package includes possibility of imposing exclusion restrictions on autoregressive parameters for all models [#106](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/106)
5.  Improved forecasting plots to accommodate those for `horizon = 1` [#121](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/121)
6.  A NEW MODEL! A BSVAR with heterogeneous Markov switching heteroskedasticity [#58](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/58)
7.  ALL MODELS can have normal or Student-t distributed shocks. There's a new arguent in all `specify_*` functions `distribution = c("norm", "t")`. [#58](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/58)
8.  A NEW MODEL! A BSVAR with exogenous heteroskedastic regime changes. [#23](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/23)
9.  Updates CXX flags. [#125](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/125)
10. Simplified examples in documentation to better express the simplicity of workflows as suggested by [\@robjhyndman](https://github.com/robjhyndman). [#120](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/120)
11. Replaced forecast method with `generics::forecast` as suggested by [\@robjhyndman](https://github.com/robjhyndman). [#114](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/114)
12. Normalisation is now made through the generic and methods `normalise` [131](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/131)
13. Corrected R code for forecasting with HMSH models in PR [#136](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/136) by [Bruno Cavalcante](https://github.com/brunolbcavalcante)
14. Corrected C++ code for Student's t shocks in PR [#140](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/140) by [Fei Shang](https://github.com/lcq110)
15. Fix recursive forecasts for non-centred SV and Student-t specifications in PR [#140](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/143) by [Fei Shang](https://github.com/lcq110)
16. Major code corrections by [Fei Shang](https://github.com/lcq110) in PRs [#143](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/143) [#144](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/144) [#145](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/145) [#146](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/146) [#148](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/148) [#149](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/149) [#150](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/150) [#151](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/151) [#153](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/153) [#155](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/155)
17. Forecast output formatted using **R6** environment [#138](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/138) 
18. Fixed historical decomposition crash in PR [#156](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/pull/156) by [Adam Wang](https://github.com/adamwang15)
19. Corrected plots with provided shock names. Thanks to [\@nreigl](https://github.com/nreigl) who reported issue [#104](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/104).
20. Implemented many interesting suggestions submitted by [\@robjhyndman](https://github.com/robjhyndman) in issues [#115](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/115) [#117](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/117) [#118](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/118) and [#119](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/119).

# bsvars 3.2

1.  The package includes the first version of the vignette [5](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/5)
2.  Updates on the website <https://bsvars.org/bsvars/>
3.  New plots with axes reading variable names, time scale, and letting you specify structural shock names! [97](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/97)
4.  Improved examples for forecasting with exogenous variables. Sample matrices included in the package. Fixed the bug in **cpp** code for forecasting. Thanks to [\@DawievLill](https://github.com/DawievLill) for asking for clarity! [96](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/96)

# bsvars 3.1

1.  A NEW MODEL! An SVAR with t-distributed structural shocks facilitating identification through non-normality is now included in the package with all the necessary functionality [#84](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/84)
2.  New ways of verifying identification through heteroskedasticity or non-normality using method `verify_identification()` [#84](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/84)
3.  Improve coding of `forecast` **cpp** function and **R** methods [#89](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/89)
4.  Included or updated legend in FEVD and HD plots as requested by [\@ccoleman9](https://github.com/ccoleman9) [#85](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/85)

# bsvars 3.0.1

1.  Fixed the bugs that started coming up in the new tested version of **Armadillo** and **RcppArmadillo** [#82](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/82) and [RcppCore/RcppArmadillo#443](https://github.com/RcppCore/RcppArmadillo/issues/443)
2.  Corrected the computations of `verify_autoregression` [#82](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/82)

# bsvars 3.0

1.  The package has a logo! And it's beautiful! [#37](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/37)
2.  The package includes `summary` methods [#1](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/1)
3.  The package includes `plot` methods [#36](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/36)
4.  Method `forecast` allow for conditional forecasting given provided future trajectories of selected variables [#76](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/76)
5.  Sparse mixture and Markov-switching models can now have more than 20 regimes [#57](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/57)
6.  A new, more detailed, package description [#62](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/62)
7.  The website features the new logo. And includes some new information [#38](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/38)
8.  Updates on documentation to accommodate the fact that some generics and functions from package **bsvars** will be used in a broader family of packages, first of which is [**bsvarSIGNs**](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvarSIGNs). Includes updates on references. [#63](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/63)
9.  Fixed `compute_fitted_values()`. Now it's correctly sampling from the predictive data density. [#67](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/67)
10. Fixed some bugs that did not create problems [#55](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/55)
11. Got rid of filling by reference in the samplers for the sake of granting the exported **cpp** functions usability [#56](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/56)
12. Coded `compute_*()` functions as generics and methods [#70](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/70)
13. Updated code for forecast error variance decompositions for heteroskedastic models (as prompted by [\@adamwang15](https://github.com/adamwang15)) [#69](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/69)

# bsvars 2.1.0

Published on 11 December 2023

1.  Included Bayesian procedure for verifying structural shocks' heteroskedasticty equation-by-equation using Savage-Dickey density ratios [#26](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/26)
2.  Included Bayesian procedure for verifying joint hypotheses on autoregressive parameters using Savage-Dickey density ratios [#26](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/26)
3.  Included the possibility of specifying exogenous variables or deterministic terms and included the deterministic terms used by Lütkepohl, Shang, Uzeda, Woźniak (2023) [#45](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/45)
4.  Updated the data as in Lütkepohl, Shang, Uzeda, Woźniak (2023) [#45](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/45)
5.  Fixing the compilation problems reported [HERE](https://cran.r-project.org/web/checks/check_results_bsvars.html) [#48](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/48)
6.  The package has its pkgdown website at [bsvars.org/bsvars/](https://bsvars.org/bsvars/) [#38](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/38)

# bsvars 2.0.0

Published on 23 October 2023

1.  Included Imports from package **stochvol**
2.  Posterior computations for:

-   impulse responses and forecast error variance decomposition [#3](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/3),
-   structural shocks and historical decompositions [#14](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/14)
-   fitted values [#17](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/17)
-   conditional standard deviations [#16](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/16)
-   regime probabilities for MS and MIX models [#18](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/18)

3.  Implemented faster samplers based on random number generators from **armadillo** via **RcppArmadillo** [#7](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/7)
4.  The `estimate_bsvar*` functions now also normalise the output w.r.t. to a structural matrix with positive elements on the main diagonal [#9](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/9)
5.  Changed the order of arguments in the `estimate_bsvar*` functions with `posterior` first to facilitate workflows using the pipe `|>` [#10](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/10)
6.  Include citation info for the package [#12](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/12)
7.  Corrected sampler for AR parameter of the SV equations [#19](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/19)
8.  Added samplers from joint predictive densities [#15](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/15)
9.  A new centred Stochastic Volatility heteroskedastic process is implemented [#22](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/22)
10. Introduced a three-level local-global equation-specific prior shrinkage hierarchy for the parameters of matrices \eqn{B} and \eqn{A} [#34](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/34)
11. Improved checks for correct specification of arguments `S` and `thin` of the `estimate` method as enquired by [\@mfaragd](https://github.com/mfaragd) [#33](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/33)
12. Improved the ordinal numerals presentation for thinning in the progress bar [#27](https://github.com/bsvars/bsvars/issues/27)

# bsvars 1.0.0

Published on 1 September 2022

1.  repo transferred from GitLab to GitHub
2.  repository is made public
3.  version to be premiered on CRAN

# bsvars 0.0.2.9000

1.  Added a new progress bar for the `estimate_bsvar*` functions
2.  Developed **R6** classes for model specification and posterior outcomes; model specification includes sub-classes for priors, identifying restrictions, data matrices, and starting values
3.  Added a complete package documentation
4.  Written help files
5.  Developed tests for MCMC reproducibility
6.  Included sample data

# bsvars 0.0.1.9000

1.  **cpp** scripts are imported, compile, and give no Errors, Warnings, or Notes
2.  **R** wrappers for the functions are fully operating
3.  full documentation describing package and functions' functionality [sic!]
