We discuss the modeling of count data whose empirical distribution is both multi-modal and over-dispersed, and propose the Hermite distribution with covariates introduced through the conditional mean. The model is readily estimated by maximum likelihood, and nests the Poisson model as a special...

We discuss the modeling of count data whose empirical distribution is both multi-modal and overdispersed, and propose the Hermite distribution with covariates introduced through the conditional mean. The model is readily estimated by maximum likelihood, and nests the Poisson model as a special...