Flexible Tool for Model Building: the Relevant Transformation of the Inputs Network Approach (RETINA)

A new method, called Relevant Transformation of the Inputs Network Approach (RETINA) isproposed as a tool for model building. It is designed around flexibility (with nonlinear transformations of the predictors of interest), selective search within the range of possible models, out-of-sample forecasting ability and computational simplicity. In tests on simulated data, it shows both a high rate of successful retrieval of the DGP which increases with the sample size and a good performance relative to other alternative procedures. A telephone service demand model is built to show how the procedure applies on real data.