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Forecasting economic aggregates by disaggregates

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Author Info
David F. Hendry () (Department of Economics, Oxford University, Manor Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, United Kingdom)
Kirstin Hubrich () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, Postfach 16 03 19, 60066 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)

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Abstract

We suggest an alternative use of disaggregate information to forecast the aggregate variable of interest, that is to include disaggregate information or disaggregate variables in the aggregate model as opposed to first forecasting the disaggregate variables separately and then aggregating those forecasts or, alternatively, using only lagged aggregate information in forecasting the aggregate. We show theoretically that the first method of forecasting the aggregate should outperform the alternative methods in population. We investigate whether this theoretical prediction can explain our empirical findings and analyse why forecasting the aggregate using information on its disaggregate components improves forecast accuracy of the aggregate forecast of euro area and US inflation in some situations, but not in others. JEL Classification: C51; C53; E31.

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Paper provided by European Central Bank in its series Working Paper Series with number 589.

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Length: 51 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2006
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Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20060589

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Related research
Keywords: Disaggregate information; predictability; forecast model selection; VAR; factor models.;

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: 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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Full references

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. Carlo Altavilla & Matteo Ciccarelli, 2006. "Inflation Forecasts, Monetary Policy and Unemployment Dynamics: Evidence from the US and the Euro Area," Discussion Papers 7_2006, D.E.S. (Department of Economic Studies), University of Naples "Parthenope", Italy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Eliana González & Miguel I. Gómez & Luis F. Melo & José Luis Torres, 2006. "Forecasting Food Price Inflation in Developing Countries with Inflation Targeting Regimes: the Colombian Case," BORRADORES DE ECONOMIA 002735, BANCO DE LA REPÚBLICA. [Downloadable!]
  3. Ard den Reijer, 2007. "Identifying Regional and Sectoral Dynamics of the Dutch Staffing Labour Cycle," DNB Working Papers 153, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  4. Stéphane Dées & Matthias Burgert, 2008. "Forecasting world trade. Direct versus "bottom-up" approaches," Working Paper Series 882, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Günter W. Beck & Kirstin Hubrich & Massimiliano Marcellino, 2006. "Regional inflation dynamics within and across euro area countries and a comparison with the US," Working Paper Series 681, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  6. J. James Reade & Ulrich Volz, 2009. "Leader of the Pack? German Monetary Dominance in Europe Prior to EMU," Economics Series Working Papers 419, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. Janine Aron & John Muellbauer, 2008. "New methods for forecasting inflation and its sub-components: application to the USA," Economics Series Working Papers 406, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Guenter Beck & Massimiliano Marcellino, 2006. "Regional Inflation Dynamics within and across Euro Area and a Comparison with the US," Computing in Economics and Finance 2006 338, Society for Computational Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Gomez, Miguel I. & Gonzalez, Eliana & Melo, Luis F. & Torres, Jose L., 2006. "Forecasting Food Price Inflation, Challenges for Central Banks in Developing Countries using an Inflation Targeting Framework: the Case of Colombia," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21181, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  10. Emil Stavrev, 2006. "Measures of Underlying Inflation in the Euro Area: Assessment and Role for Informing Monetary Policy," IMF Working Papers 06/197, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  11. Badi H. Baltagi, 2007. "Forecasting with Panel Data," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 91, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University. [Downloadable!]
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