  Affine term structure models have gained significant attention in the finance
literature, mainly due to their analytical tractability and statistical
flexibility. The aim of this article is to present both theoretical foundations
as well as empirical aspects of the affine model class. Starting from the
original one-factor short-rate models of Vasi\v{c}ek and Cox \emph{et al,} we
provide an overview of the properties of regular affine processes and explain
their relationship to affine term structure models. Methods for securities
pricing and for parameter estimation are also discussed, demonstrating how the
analytical tractability of affine models can be exploited for practical
purposes.
