A general statistical modeling problem is that given a class of competing models and new data, how one can improve the overall model performance. In general, there exist two solutions for this problem, namely model selection and model combination. Model selection is to select a single best model...

Local volatility model is a relatively simple way to capture volatility skew/smile. In spite of its drawbacks, it remains popular among practitioners for derivative pricing and hedging. For long-dated options or interest rate/equity hybrid products, in order to take into account the effect of...