Estimating the tail-dependence coefficient: Properties and pitfalls

The concept of tail dependence describes the amount of dependence in the lower-left-quadrant tail or upper-right-quadrant tail of a bivariate distribution. A common measure of tail dependence is given by the so-called tail-dependence coefficient. This paper surveys various estimators for the tail-dependence coefficient within a parametric, semiparametric, and nonparametric framework. Further, a detailed simulation study is provided which compares and illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of the estimators. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.