http://repub.eur.nl/res/concept/jel-E2/ Recent publications classified by JEL Code E2 en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/39841/ 2013-04-11T00:00:00Z It is common practice to evaluate fixed-event forecast revisions in macroeconomics by regressing current forecast revisions on one-period lagged forecast revisions. Under weak-form (forecast) efficiency, the correlation between the current and one-period lagged revisions should be zero. The empirical findings in the literature suggest that this null hypothesis of zero correlation is rejected frequently, where the correlation can be either positive (which is widely interpreted in the literature as “smoothing”) or negative (which is widely interpreted as “over-reacting”). We propose a methodology to interpret such non-zero correlations in a straightforward and clear manner. Our approach is based on the assumption that numerical forecasts can be decomposed into both an econometric model and random expert intuition. We show that the interpretation of the sign of the correlation between the current and one-period lagged revisions depends on the process governing intuition, and the current and lagged correlations between intuition and news (or shocks to the numerical forecasts). It follows that the estimated non-zero correlation cannot be given a direct interpretation in terms of smoothing or over-reaction. Chang, C.L. Bruijn, B. de Franses, Ph.H.B.F. McAleer, M.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/39434/ 2013-03-25T00:00:00Z Many macroeconomic forecasts and forecast updates like those from IMF and OECD typically involve both a model component, which is replicable, as well as intuition, which is non-replicable. Intuition is expert knowledge possessed by a forecaster. If forecast updates are progressive, forecast updates should become more accurate, on average, as the actual value is approached. Otherwise, forecast updates would be neutral. The paper proposes a methodology to test whether macroeconomic forecast updates are progressive, where the interaction between model and intuition is explicitly taken into account. The data set for the empirical analysis is for Taiwan, where we have three decades of quarterly data available of forecasts and their updates of the inflation rate and real GDP growth rate. Our empirical results suggest that the forecast updates for Taiwan are progressive, and that progress can be explained predominantly by improved intuition. Chang, C.L. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. McAleer, M.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38219/ 2012-12-10T00:00:00Z We investigate the cyclicality of the private savings to GDP ratio for a panel of 19 OECD countries over the period 1971-2009. We find robust evidence that the private savings ratio is countercyclical. Three theories unambiguously predict a higher private savings ratio during recessions: a Ricardian offset effect, the presence of credit constraints, and precautionary savings. We find evidence only for the latter theory. Our estimations take into account a large number of econometric complications: persistence in the savings ratio, endogeneity of the regressors, cross-country parameter heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependence, stationarity issues, omitted variables, and instrument strength. Adema, Y. Pozzi, L.C.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/38741/ 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z This article explores the consequences of financial liberalization policy on the banking sector in Bangladesh. Following a motivating portfolio selection theor-etical model on the impact of liberalization, it applies time series techniques with annual banking sector data for the period 1981-2008. The study suggests that the main objective of financial liberalization to promote domestic private savings by raising real interest rates has not worked. No significant positive correlation is observed between domestic private savings and the real deposit interest rate. Murshed, S.M. Robin, I.A. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/26530/ 2011-10-01T00:00:00Z Micro data are used for the US over the period 1968 - 1992 to estimate time-varying specifications for the conditional variance of earnings of individual households. Specifications estimated are standard and quadratic ARCH and GARCH processes. The cross-sectional mean of the estimated time-varying uncertainty of individual households is found to have a significant impact on aggregate consumption growth implying that earnings uncertainty and precautionary saving motives matter for the aggregate economy. The estimation of a buffer stock model of consumption with time-varying earnings uncertainty provides an estimated precautionary component in aggregate consumption growth. The importance of this component is found to decrease over the sample period, a result which is in line with the existing literature. Pozzi, L.C.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23785/ 2011-06-30T00:00:00Z It is common practice to evaluate fixed-event forecast revisions in macroeconomics by regressing current revisions on one-period lagged revisions. Under weak-form efficiency, the correlation between the current and one-period lagged revisions should be zero. The empirical findings in the literature suggest that the null hypothesis of zero correlation between the current and one-period lagged revisions is rejected quite frequently, where the correlation can be either positive or negative. In this paper we propose a methodology to be able to interpret such non-zero correlations in a straightforward manner. Our approach is based on the assumption that forecasts can be decomposed into both an econometric model and expert intuition. The interpretation of the sign of the correlation between the current and one-period lagged revisions depends on the process governing intuition, and the correlation between intuition and news. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. Chang, C.L. McAleer, M.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22553/ 2011-02-04T00:00:00Z This paper explores the interaction between retirement flexibility and portfolio choice in an overlapping-generations model of a closed economy. Retirement flexibility is often seen as a hedge against capital market risks which justifies more risky asset portfolios. We show, however, that this positive relationship between risk taking and retirement flexibility is weakened - and under some conditions even turned around - if not only capital market risks but also productivity risks are considered. Productivity risk in combination with a high elasticity of substitution between consumption and leisure creates a positive correlation between asset returns and labour income, reducing the willingness of consumers to bear risk. Moreover, it turns out that general equilibrium effects can either increase or decrease the equity exposure, depending on the degree of substitutability between consumption and leisure. Adema, Y. Bonenkamp, J. Meijdam, L. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22335/ 2011-01-04T00:00:00Z This paper puts forward kernel ridge regression as an approach for forecasting with many predictors that are related nonlinearly to the target variable. In kernel ridge regression, the observed predictor variables are mapped nonlinearly into a high-dimensional space, where estimation of the predictive regression model is based on a shrinkage estimator to avoid overfitting. We extend the kernel ridge regression methodology to enable its use for economic time-series forecasting, by including lags of the dependent variable or other individual variables as predictors, as is typically desired in macroeconomic and financial applications. Monte Carlo simulations as well as an empirical application to various key measures of real economic activity confirm that kernel ridge regression can produce more accurate forecasts than traditional linear methods for dealing with many predictors based on principal component regression. Exterkate, P. Groenen, P.J.F. Heij, C. Dijk, D.J.C. van http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/25629/ 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z A new method of leading index construction is proposed, which explicitly takes into account the purpose of using the index for forecasting a coincident economic indicator. This so-called principal covariate index combines the need for compressing the information in a large number of individual leading indicator variables with the objective of forecasting. In an empirical application to forecast future growth rates of the Conference Board’s Composite Coincident Index and its constituents, the forecasts of the principal covariate index are more accurate than those obtained either from the Composite Leading Index of the Conference Board or from an alternative index-based on principal components. Groenen, P.J.F. Heij, C. Dijk, D.J.C. van http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/21944/ 2010-12-22T00:00:00Z Macroeconomic forecasts are often based on the interaction between econometric models and experts. A forecast that is based only on an econometric model is replicable and may be unbiased, whereas a forecast that is not based only on an econometric model, but also incorporates an expert’s touch, is non-replicable and is typically biased. In this paper we propose a methodology to analyze the qualities of combined non-replicable forecasts. One part of the methodology seeks to retrieve a replicable component from the non-replicable forecasts, and compares this component against the actual data. A second part modifies the estimation routine due to the assumption that the difference between a replicable and a non-replicable forecast involves a measurement error. An empirical example to forecast economic fundamentals for Taiwan shows the relevance of the methodological approach. Chang, C.L. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. McAleer, M.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22372/ 2010-10-01T00:00:00Z The current wave of globalization has profound labour market effects, accentuated, in many cases, by the current financial and economic crisis. This paper reviews general labour market trends and country examples, arguing that the current globalization process makes labour’s position more precarious, a trend magnified by the current crisis. This is consistent with the policy reactions to the crisis: governments have (rightly) acted as a banker of last resort to avoid the collapse of the financial system, but, despite stimulus plans and monetary easing and some labour market policies, have not really acted as an employer of last resort. Hoeven, R.E. van der http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/20156/ 2010-07-28T00:00:00Z Macro-economic forecasts are often based on the interaction between econometric models and experts. A forecast that is based only on an econometric model is replicable and may be unbiased, whereas a forecast that is not based only on an econometric model, but also incorporates an expert’s touch, is non-replicable and is typically biased. In this paper we propose a methodology to analyze the qualities of combined non-replicable forecasts. One part of the methodology seeks to retrieve a replicable component from the non-replicable forecasts, and compares this component against the actual data. A second part modifies the estimation routine due to the assumption that the difference between a replicable and a non-replicable forecast involves a measurement error. An empirical example to forecast economic fundamentals for Taiwan shows the relevance of the methodological approach. Chang, C.L. McAleer, M.J. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/19449/ 2010-05-11T00:00:00Z This paper examines the inclusion of the dollar/euro exchange rate together with four important and highly traded commodities - aluminum, copper, gold and oil- in symmetric and asymmetric multivariate GARCH and DCC models. The inclusion of exchange rate increases the significant direct and indirect past shock and volatility effects on future volatility between the commodities in all the models. Model 2, which includes the business cycle industrial metal copper and not aluminum, displays more direct and indirect transmissions than does Model 3, which replaces the business cycle-sensitive copper with the highly energy-intensive aluminum. The asymmetric effects are the greatest in Model 3 because of the high interactions between oil and aluminum. Optimal portfolios should have more euro currency than commodities, and more copper and gold than oil. Hammoudeh, S.M. Yuan, Y. McAleer, M.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/19510/ 2010-05-06T00:00:00Z This paper examines the sources of stickiness in aggregate consumption growth. We first derive a dynamic consumption equation which nests recent developments in consumption theory: rule-of-thumb consumption, habit formation, non-separabilities between both private consumption and hours worked and private consumption and government consumption, intertemporal substitution effects and precautionary savings. Next, we estimate this dynamic consumption equation for a panel of 15 OECD countries over the period 1972-2007 taking into account endogeneity issues and error cross-sectional dependence. To this end, we develop a generalised method of moments version of the common correlated effects pooled estimator and demonstrate its small sample behaviour using Monte Carlo simulations. The estimation results support the labour-consumption complementarity hypothesis, the rule-of-thumb consumption model and the notion that precautionary savings matter for the aggregate economy. Everaert, G. Pozzi, L.C.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/19358/ 2010-04-29T00:00:00Z Macro-economic forecasts typically involve both a model component, which is replicable, as well as intuition, which is non-replicable. Intuition is expert knowledge possessed by a forecaster. If forecast updates are progressive, forecast updates should become more accurate, on average, as the actual value is approached. Otherwise, forecast updates would be neutral. The paper proposes a methodology to test whether forecast updates are progressive and whether econometric models are useful in updating forecasts. The data set for the empirical analysis are for Taiwan, where we have three decades of quarterly data available of forecasts and updates of the inflation rate and real GDP growth rate. The actual series for both the inflation rate and the real GDP growth rate are always released by the government one quarter after the release of the revised forecast, and the actual values are not revised after they have been released. Our empirical results suggest that the forecast updates for Taiwan are progressive, and can be explained predominantly by intuition. Additionally, the one-, two- and three-quarter forecast errors are predictable using publicly available information for both the inflation rate and real GDP growth rate, which suggests that the forecasts can be improved. Chang, C.L. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. McAleer, M.J. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23954/ 2010-04-01T00:00:00Z We analyze the revision history of quarterly and monthly (seasonally unadjusted) macroeconomic variables for the Netherlands, Ireland, Luxemburg and the United States, where we focus on the degree of deterministic seasonality in these revisions. We document that the data show most deterministic seasonality in the final revision. The first-release data and the in-between revisions show a variety of seasonal patterns. The consequences of these findings for the interpretation and modeling of macroeconomic data are discussed. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. Segers, R. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/18604/ 2010-03-30T00:00:00Z Macroeconomic forecasts are frequently produced, published, discussed and used. The formal evaluation of such forecasts has a long research history. Recently, a new angle to the evaluation of forecasts has been addressed, and in this review we analyse some recent developments from that perspective. The literature on forecast evaluation predominantly assumes that macroeconomic forecasts are generated from econometric models. In practice, however, most macroeconomic forecasts, such as those from the IMF, World Bank, OECD, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and the ECB, are based on econometric model forecasts as well as on human intuition. This seemingly inevitable combination renders most of these forecasts biased and, as such, their evaluation becomes non-standard. In this review, we consider the evaluation of two forecasts in which: (i) the two forecasts are generated from two distinct econometric models; (ii) one forecast is generated from an econometric model and the other is obtained as a combination of a model, the other forecast, and intuition; and (iii) the two forecasts are generated from two distinct combinations of different models and intuition. It is shown that alternative tools are needed to compare and evaluate the forecasts in each of these three situations. These alternative techniques are illustrated by comparing the forecasts from the Federal Reserve Board and the FOMC on inflation, unemployment and real GDP growth Franses, Ph.H.B.F. McAleer, M.J. Legerstee, R. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22119/ 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z We investigate the importance of aggregate and consumer-specific or idiosyncratic labour income risk for aggregate consumption changes in the US over the period 1952–2001. Theoretically, the effect of labour income risk on consumption changes is decomposed into an aggregate and into an idiosyncratic part. Empirically, aggregate risk is modelled through a GARCH process on aggregate labour income shocks and individual risk is modelled as an unobserved component and obtained through Kalman filtering. Our results suggest that aggregate labour income risk explains a negligible fraction of the variance of aggregate consumption changes. A more important part of aggregate consumption changes is explained by the unobserved component. The interpretation of this component as reflecting idiosyncratic labour income risk is supported by the finding that it is negatively affected by received consumer transfers. Idiosyncratic labour income risk thus matters for the aggregate economy. Pozzi, L.C.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/17665/ 2010-01-04T00:00:00Z The equity premium puzzle holds that the coefficient of relative risk aversion estimated from the consumption based CAPM under power utility is excessively high. Moreover, estimates in the literature vary considerably across countries. We gauge the uncertainty pertaining to the country risk aversion estimates by means of jackknife resampling and pooling. The confidence band for the world risk aversion estimate from the pooled country data is much tighter and the pooled point estimate presents less of a puzzle than the individual country estimates. Pozzi, L.C.G. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/16264/ 2009-07-23T00:00:00Z A government’s ability to forecast key economic fundamentals accurately can affect business confidence, consumer sentiment, and foreign direct investment, among others. A government forecast based on an econometric model is replicable, whereas one that is not fully based on an econometric model is non-replicable. Governments typically provide non-replicable forecasts (or, expert forecasts) of economic fundamentals, such as the inflation rate and real GDP growth rate. In this paper, we develop a methodology to evaluate non-replicable forecasts. We argue that in order to do so, one needs to retrieve from the non-replicable forecast its replicable component, and that it is the difference in accuracy between these two that matters. An empirical example to forecast economic fundamentals for Taiwan shows the relevance of the proposed methodological approach. Our main finding is that it is the undocumented knowledge of the Taiwanese government that reduces forecast errors substantially. Chang, C.L. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. McAleer, M.J.