A linear benchmark for forecasting GDP growth and inflation?

dc.contributor.authorMARCELLINO, Massimiliano
dc.date.accessioned2016-07-26T15:10:49Z
dc.date.available2016-07-26T15:10:49Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.description.abstractPredicting the future evolution of GDP growth and inflation is a central concern in economics. Forecasts are typically produced either from economic theory-based models or from simple linear time series models. While a time series model can provide a reasonable benchmark to evaluate the value added of economic theory relative to the pure explanatory power of the past behavior of the variable, recent developments in time series analysis suggest that more sophisticated time series models could provide more serious benchmarks for economic models. In this paper we evaluate whether these complicated time series models can outperform standard linear models for forecasting GDP growth and inflation. We consider a large variety of models and evaluation criteria, using a bootstrap algorithm to evaluate the statistical significance of our results. Our main conclusion is that in general linear time series models can hardly be beaten if they are carefully specified. However, we also identify some important cases where the adoption of a more complicated benchmark can alter the conclusions of economic analyses about the driving forces of GDP growth and inflation
dc.identifier.citationJournal of forecasting, 2008, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 305-340
dc.identifier.doi10.1002/for.1059
dc.identifier.endpage340
dc.identifier.issn1099-131X
dc.identifier.issue4
dc.identifier.startpage305
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/42715
dc.identifier.volume27
dc.language.isoen
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of forecasting
dc.subjectForecasting
dc.subjectTime-varying models
dc.subjectNonlinear models
dc.subjectGrowth
dc.subjectInflation
dc.titleA linear benchmark for forecasting GDP growth and inflation?
dc.typeArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
eui.subscribe.skiptrue
person.identifier.other26452
relation.isAuthorOfPublication40c8706f-96c5-4201-aba5-626a9232e5d7
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery40c8706f-96c5-4201-aba5-626a9232e5d7
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