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The Resolution of Macroeconomic Uncertainty: Evidence from Survey Forecast

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Author Info
Andrew J. Patton
Allan Timmermann () (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark and CREATES)

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Abstract

We develop an unobserved components approach to study surveys of forecasts containing multiple forecast horizons. Under the assumption that forecasters optimally update their beliefs about past, current and future state variables as new information arrives, we use our model to extract information on the degree of predictability of the state variable and the importance of measurement errors on that variable. Empirical estimates of the model are obtained using survey forecasts of annual GDP growth and inflation in the US with forecast horizons ranging from 1 to 24 months. The model is found to closely match the joint realization of forecast errors at different horizons and is used to demonstrate how uncertainty about macroeconomic variables is resolved.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus in its series CREATES Research Papers with number 2008-54.

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Length: 34
Date of creation: 19 Sep 2008
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Handle: RePEc:aah:create:2008-54

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Web page: http://www.econ.au.dk/afn/

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Related research
Keywords: Fixed-event forecasts; multiple forecast horizons; Kalman filtering; survey data;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
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    Other versions:
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  9. Davies, Anthony & Lahiri, Kajal, 1995. "A new framework for analyzing survey forecasts using three-dimensional panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 205-227, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Croushore, Dean, 2006. "Forecasting with Real-Time Macroeconomic Data," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Lavan Mahadeva & Alex Muscatelli, 2005. "National Accounts Revisions and Output Gap Estimates in a Model of Monetary Policy with Data Uncertainty," Discussion Papers 14, Monetary Policy Committee Unit, Bank of England. [Downloadable!]
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  15. Patton, Andrew J. & Timmermann, Allan, 2007. "Testing Forecast Optimality Under Unknown Loss," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 102, pages 1172-1184, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Tauchen, George, 1986. "Statistical Properties of Generalized Method-of-Moments Estimators of Structural Parameters Obtained from Financial Market Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 4(4), pages 397-416, October.
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  1. Jonas Dovern & Ulrich Fritsche & Jiri Slacalek, 2009. "Disagreement among Forecasters in G7 Countries," Macroeconomics and Finance Series 200906, Hamburg University, Department Wirtschaft und Politik. [Downloadable!]
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