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How Useful is Bagging in Forecasting Economic Time Series? A Case Study of US CPI Inflation

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Author Info
Inoue, Atsushi
Kilian, Lutz

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Abstract

This paper explores the usefulness of bagging methods in forecasting economic time series from linear multiple regression models. We focus on the widely studied question of whether the inclusion of indicators of real economic activity lowers the prediction mean-squared error of forecast models of US consumer price inflation. We study bagging methods for linear regression models with correlated regressors and for factor models. We compare the accuracy of simulated out-of-sample forecasts of inflation based on these bagging methods to that of alternative forecast methods, including factor model forecasts, shrinkage estimator forecasts, combination forecasts and Bayesian model averaging. We find that bagging methods in this application are almost as accurate or more accurate than the best alternatives. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that large reductions in the prediction mean squared error are possible relative to existing methods, a result that is also suggested by the asymptotic analysis of some stylized linear multiple regression examples.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5304.

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Date of creation: Oct 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5304

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Related research
Keywords: Bayesian model averaging; bootstrap aggregation; factor models; forecast combination; forecast model selection; pre-testing; shrinkage estimation;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions
C52 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Evaluation and Testing
C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Other Model Applications

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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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Cited by:
(explanations, 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.)

  1. Francesco Audrino & Marcelo C. Medeiros, 2008. "Smooth Regimes, Macroeconomic Variables, and Bagging for the Short-Term Interest Rate Process," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-16, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen. [Downloadable!]
  2. Andrew Ang & Geert Bekaert & Min Wei, 2006. "Do macro variables, asset markets, or surveys forecast inflation better?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2006-15, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
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