Abstract

Stein's method is used to prove approximations in total variation to the distributions of integer valued random variables by (possibly signed) compound Poisson measures. For sums of independent random variables, the results obtained are very explicit, and improve upon earlier work of Kruopis (1983) and Cekanavicius (1997); coupling methods are used to derive concrete expressions for the error bounds. An example is given to illustrate the potential for application to sums of dependent random variables.