Supervised component generalized linear regression with multiple explanatory blocks: THEME-SCGLR

Abstract

We address component-based regularization of a multivariate Generalized Linear Model (GLM). A set of random responses Y is assumed to depend, through a GLM, on a set X of explanatory variables, as well as on a set T of additional covariates. X is partitioned into R conceptually homogeneous blocks X1,···,XR, viewed as explanatory themes. Variables in each Xr are assumed many and redundant. Thus, generalized linear regression demands regularization with respect to each Xr. By contrast, variables in T are assumed selected so as to demand no regularization. Regularization is performed searching each Xr for an appropriate number of orthogonal components that both contribute to model Y and capture relevant structural information in Xr. We propose a very general criterion to measure structural relevance (SR) of a component in a block, and show how to take SR into account within a Fisher-scoring-type algorithm in order to estimate the model. We show how to deal with mixed-type explanatory variables. The method, named THEME-SCGLR, is tested on simulated data, and then applied to rainforest data in order to model the abundance of tree-species.