Threshold variable selection of asymmetric stochastic volatility models

A threshold stochastic volatility (SV) model is used for capturing time-varying volatilities and nonlinearity. Two adaptive Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods of model selection are designed for the selection of threshold variables for this family of SV models. The first method is the direct estimation which approximates the model posterior probabilities of competing models. Using parallel MCMC sampling to estimate these probabilities, the best threshold variable is selected with the highest posterior model probability. The second method is to use the deviance information criterion to compare among these competing models and select the best one. Simulation results lead us to conclude that for large samples the posterior model probability approximation method can give an accurate approximation of the posterior probability in Bayesian model selection. The method delivers a powerful and sharp model selection tool. An empirical study of five Asian stock markets provides strong support for the threshold variable which is formulated as a weighted average of important variables.