variance components

Journal of Statistical Software

GAMLSS is a general framework for fitting regression type models where the distribution of the response variable does not have to belong to the exponential family and includes highly skew and kurtotic continuous and discrete distribution. GAMLSS allows all the parameters of the distribution of the response variable to be modelled as linear/non-linear or smooth functions of the explanatory variables. This  paper starts by defining the statistical framework of GAMLSS, then  describes the current implementation of GAMLSS in R and finally gives four different data examples to demonstrate how GAMLSS can be used for statistical modelling.

Generalized Additive Models for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) inR