Multivariate convex regression with adaptive partitioning

Abstract: We propose a new, nonparametric method for multivariate regression subject to convexity or concavity constraints on the response function. Convexity constraints are common in economics, statistics, operations research, financial engineering and optimization, but there is currently no multivariate method that is computationally feasible for more than a few hundred observations. We introduce Convex Adaptive Partitioning (CAP), which creates a globally convex regression model from locally linear estimates fit on adaptively selected covariate partitions. CAP is computationally efficient, in stark contrast to current methods. The most popular method, the least squares estimator, has a computational complexity of $\mathcal{O}(n^3)$. We show that CAP has a computational complexity of $\mathcal{O}(n \log(n)\log(\log(n)))$ and also give consistency results. CAP is applied to value function approximation for pricing American basket options with a large number of underlying assets.