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Calibrating the Nelson-Siegel-Svensson Model by Genetic Algorithm

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  • Asif Lakhany
  • Andrej Pintar
  • Amber Zhang

Abstract

Accurately fitting the term structure of interest rates is critical to central banks and other market participants. The Nelson-Siegel and Nelson-Siegel-Svensson models are probably the best-known models for this purpose due to their intuitive appeal and simple representation. However, this simplicity comes at a price. The difficulty in calibrating these models is twofold. Firstly, the objective function being minimized during the calibration procedure is nonlinear and has multiple local optima. Secondly, there is strong co-dependence among the model parameters. As a result, their estimated values behave erratically over time. To avoid these problems, we apply a heuristic optimization method, specifically the Genetic Algorithm approach, and show that it is able to construct reliable interest rate curves and stable model parameters over time, regardless of the shape of the curves.

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  • Asif Lakhany & Andrej Pintar & Amber Zhang, 2021. "Calibrating the Nelson-Siegel-Svensson Model by Genetic Algorithm," Papers 2108.01760, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2108.01760
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lars E.O. Svensson, 1994. "Estimating and Interpreting Forward Interest Rates: Sweden 1992 - 1994," NBER Working Papers 4871, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    3. Nicola Anderson & John Sleath, 2001. "New estimates of the UK real and nominal yield curves," Bank of England working papers 126, Bank of England.
    4. Diebold, Francis X. & Li, Canlin, 2006. "Forecasting the term structure of government bond yields," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 337-364, February.
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    6. Manfred Gilli & Stefan Große & Enrico Schumann, 2010. "Calibrating the Nelson–Siegel–Svensson model," Working Papers 031, COMISEF.
    7. Coroneo, Laura & Nyholm, Ken & Vidova-Koleva, Rositsa, 2011. "How arbitrage-free is the Nelson-Siegel model?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 393-407, June.
    8. Cairns, A.J.G. & Pritchard, D.J., 2001. "Stability of Models for the Term Structure of Interest Rates with Application to German Market Data," British Actuarial Journal, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 467-507, August.
    9. Nelson, Charles R & Siegel, Andrew F, 1987. "Parsimonious Modeling of Yield Curves," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(4), pages 473-489, October.
    10. Michiel De Pooter, 2007. "Examining the Nelson-Siegel Class of Term Structure Models," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-043/4, Tinbergen Institute.
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    12. McCulloch, J Huston, 1975. "The Tax-Adjusted Yield Curve," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 30(3), pages 811-830, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Grochola, Nicolaus, 2023. "The influence of negative interest rates on life insurance companies," ICIR Working Paper Series 53/23, Goethe University Frankfurt, International Center for Insurance Regulation (ICIR).

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