rg-n-phis">n_phis<a class="anchor" aria-label="anchor" href="#arg-n-phis"></a></dt>
<dd><p>a numeric scalar; in case the family corresponds to a distribution that has extra
    (dispersion/shape) parameters, you need to specify how many extra parameters are needed.</p></dd>

<dt id="arg-initial-values">initial_values<a class="anchor" aria-label="anchor" href="#arg-initial-values"></a></dt>
<dd><p>a list of initial values. This can have up to three components,
    namely,</p><dl><dt>betas</dt>
<dd><p>a numer