Abstract:
In Bayesian analysis, the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm is an efficient and simple method to compute posteriors. However, the chain may appear to converge while the posterior is improper, which will leads to incorrect statistical inferences. In this paper, we focus on the necessary and sufficient conditions for which improper hierarchical priors can yield proper posteriors in a multivariate linear model. In addition, we carry out a simulation study to illustrate the theoretical results, in which the Gibbs sampling and Metropolis-Hasting sampling are employed to generate the posteriors.