Forecasting in the Presence of Structural Breaks and Model Uncertainty

Forecasting in the Presence of Structural Breaks and Model Uncertainty
Author: David E. Rapach
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 691
Release: 2008-02-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 044452942X

Forecasting in the presence of structural breaks and model uncertainty are active areas of research with implications for practical problems in forecasting. This book addresses forecasting variables from both Macroeconomics and Finance, and considers various methods of dealing with model instability and model uncertainty when forming forecasts.

Data Revisions and Real-Time Probabilistic Forecasting of Macroeconomic Variables

Data Revisions and Real-Time Probabilistic Forecasting of Macroeconomic Variables
Author: Michael P. Clements
Publisher:
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2017
Genre:
ISBN:

Macroeconomic data are subject to revision over time as later vintages are released, yet the usual way of generating real-time out-of-sample forecasts from models effectively makes no allowance for this form of data uncertainty. We analyse a simple method which has been used in the context of point forecasting, and does make an allowance for data uncertainty. This method is applied to density forecasting in the presence of time-varying heteroscedasticity, and is shown in principle to improve real-time density forecasts. We show that the magnitude of the improvements that might be achieved from this method depend on the nature of the data revisions.

The Oxford Handbook of Economic Forecasting

The Oxford Handbook of Economic Forecasting
Author: Michael P. Clements
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 732
Release: 2011-06-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199875510

This Handbook provides up-to-date coverage of both new and well-established fields in the sphere of economic forecasting. The chapters are written by world experts in their respective fields, and provide authoritative yet accessible accounts of the key concepts, subject matter, and techniques in a number of diverse but related areas. It covers the ways in which the availability of ever more plentiful data and computational power have been used in forecasting, in terms of the frequency of observations, the number of variables, and the use of multiple data vintages. Greater data availability has been coupled with developments in statistical theory and economic analysis to allow more elaborate and complicated models to be entertained; the volume provides explanations and critiques of these developments. These include factor models, DSGE models, restricted vector autoregressions, and non-linear models, as well as models for handling data observed at mixed frequencies, high-frequency data, multiple data vintages, methods for forecasting when there are structural breaks, and how breaks might be forecast. Also covered are areas which are less commonly associated with economic forecasting, such as climate change, health economics, long-horizon growth forecasting, and political elections. Econometric forecasting has important contributions to make in these areas along with how their developments inform the mainstream.

Handbook of Economic Forecasting

Handbook of Economic Forecasting
Author: Graham Elliott
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 667
Release: 2013-08-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0444627405

The highly prized ability to make financial plans with some certainty about the future comes from the core fields of economics. In recent years the availability of more data, analytical tools of greater precision, and ex post studies of business decisions have increased demand for information about economic forecasting. Volumes 2A and 2B, which follows Nobel laureate Clive Granger's Volume 1 (2006), concentrate on two major subjects. Volume 2A covers innovations in methodologies, specifically macroforecasting and forecasting financial variables. Volume 2B investigates commercial applications, with sections on forecasters' objectives and methodologies. Experts provide surveys of a large range of literature scattered across applied and theoretical statistics journals as well as econometrics and empirical economics journals. The Handbook of Economic Forecasting Volumes 2A and 2B provide a unique compilation of chapters giving a coherent overview of forecasting theory and applications in one place and with up-to-date accounts of all major conceptual issues. Focuses on innovation in economic forecasting via industry applications Presents coherent summaries of subjects in economic forecasting that stretch from methodologies to applications Makes details about economic forecasting accessible to scholars in fields outside economics

Averaging Forecasts from VARs with Uncertain Instabilities

Averaging Forecasts from VARs with Uncertain Instabilities
Author: Todd E. Clark
Publisher:
Total Pages: 70
Release: 2007
Genre: Economic forecasting
ISBN:

A body of recent work suggests commonly-used VAR models of output, inflation, and interest rates may be prone to instabilities. In the face of such instabilities, a variety of estimation or forecasting methods might be used to improve the accuracy of forecasts from a VAR. These methods include using different approaches to lag selection, different observation windows for estimation, (over-) differencing, intercept correction, stochastically time-varying parameters, break dating, discounted least squares, Bayesian shrinkage, and detrending of inflation and interest rates. Although each individual method could be useful, the uncertainty inherent in any single representation of instability could mean that combining forecasts from the entire range of VAR estimates will further improve forecast accuracy. Focusing on models of U.S. output, prices, and interest rates, this paper examines the effectiveness of combination in improving VAR forecasts made with real-time data. The combinations include simple averages, medians, trimmed means, and a number of weighted combinations, based on: Bates-Granger regressions, factor model estimates, regressions involving just forecast quartiles, Bayesian model averaging, and predictive least squares-based weighting. Our goal is to identify those approaches that, in real time, yield the most accurate forecasts of these variables. We use forecasts from simple univariate time series models and the Survey of Professional Forecasters as benchmarks.

Review

Review
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2011
Genre: Money
ISBN:

Revisions in Official Data and Forecasting

Revisions in Official Data and Forecasting
Author: Cecilia Frale
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

This paper deals with the topic of revision of data with the aim of investigating whether consecutive releases of macroeconomic series published by statistical agencies contain useful information for economic analysis and forecasting. The rationality of the re-visions process is tested considering the complete history of data and an empirical application to show the usefulness of revisions for improving the precision of forecasting model is proposed. The results for Italian GDP growth show that embedding the revision process in a dynamic factor model helps to reduce the forecast error.