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Short-term forecasts of euro area GDP growth

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Author Info
Elena Angelini () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)
Gonzalo Camba-Méndez () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)
Domenico Giannone () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)
Gerhard Rünstler () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)
Lucrezia Reichlin () (London Business School, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4SA, United Kingdom.)

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Abstract

This paper evaluates models that exploit timely monthly releases to compute early estimates of current quarter GDP (now-casting) in the euro area. We compare traditional methods used at institutions with a new method proposed by Giannone, Reichlin, and Small (2005). The method consists in bridging quarterly GDP with monthly data via a regression on factors extracted from a large panel of monthly series with different publication lags. We show that bridging via factors produces more accurate estimates than traditional bridge equations. We also show that survey data and other ‘soft’ information are valuable for now-casting. JEL Classification: E52, C33, C53.

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Paper provided by European Central Bank in its series Working Paper Series with number 949.

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Length: 29 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2008
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Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20080949

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Related research
Keywords: Forecasting; Monetary Policy; Factor Model; Real Time Data; Large datasets; News.;

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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.:
  1. Koopman, Siem Jan & Harvey, Andrew, 2003. "Computing observation weights for signal extraction and filtering," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1317-1333, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Gonzalo Camba-Mendez & George Kapetanios & Richard J. Smith & Martin Weale, 1999. "An Automatic Leading Indicator of Economic Activity: Forecasting GDP growth for European Countries," NIESR Discussion Papers 149, National Institute of Economic and Social Research. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Baffigi, Alberto & Golinelli, Roberto & Parigi, Giuseppe, 2004. "Bridge models to forecast the euro area GDP," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 447-460. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Michael ARTIS & Anindya BANERJEE & Massimiliano MARCELLINO, 2001. "Factor Forecasts for the UK," Economics Working Papers ECO2001/15, European University Institute. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Antonello D’Agostino & Domenico Giannone & Paolo Surico, 2006. "(Un)Predictability and macroeconomic stability," Working Paper Series 605, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Barhoumi, K. & Rünstler, G. & Cristadoro, R. & Den Reijer, A. & Jakaitiene, A. & Jelonek, P. & Rua, A. & Ruth, K. & Benk, S. & Van Nieuwenhuyze, C., 2008. "Short-term forecasting of GDP using large monthly datasets: a pseudo real-time forecast evaluation exercise," Documents de Travail 215, Banque de France. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Harvey, David & Leybourne, Stephen & Newbold, Paul, 1997. "Testing the equality of prediction mean squared errors," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 281-291, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. David F. Hendry & Michael P. Clements, 2004. "Pooling of forecasts," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 7(1), pages 1-31, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Marie Diron, 2006. "Short-term forecasts of euro area real GDP growth - an assessment of real-time performance based on vintage data," Working Paper Series 622, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Christian Schumacher, 2007. "Forecasting German GDP using alternative factor models based on large datasets," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 271-302. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Duarte, Claudia & Rua, Antonio, 2007. "Forecasting inflation through a bottom-up approach: How bottom is bottom?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 941-953, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Marcellino, Massimiliano & Stock, James H. & Watson, Mark W., 2003. "Macroeconomic forecasting in the Euro area: Country specific versus area-wide information," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 1-18, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Catherine Doz & Domenico Giannone & Lucrezia Reichlin, 2006. "A Two-step estimator for large approximate dynamic factor models based on Kalman filtering," THEMA Working Papers 2006-23, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Domenico Giannone & Lucrezia Reichlin & David Small, 2005. "Nowcasting GDP and inflation: the real-time informational content of macroeconomic data releases," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2005-42, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
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  15. Marta Banbura & Gerhard Rünstler, 2007. "A look into the factor model black box - publication lags and the role of hard and soft data in forecasting GDP," Working Paper Series 751, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  16. Jushan Bai & Serena Ng, 2002. "Determining the Number of Factors in Approximate Factor Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(1), pages 191-221, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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. Ferrara, L. & Guégan, D., 2008. "Business surveys modelling with Seasonal-Cyclical Long Memory models," Documents de Travail 224, Banque de France. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Barhoumi, K. & Brunhes-Lesage, V. & Darné, O. & Ferrara, L. & Pluyaud, B. & Rouvreau, B., 2008. "Monthly forecasting of French GDP: A revised version of the OPTIM model," Documents de Travail 222, Banque de France. [Downloadable!]
  3. Marta Banbura & Gerhard Rünstler, 2007. "A look into the factor model black box - publication lags and the role of hard and soft data in forecasting GDP," Working Paper Series 751, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  4. Domenico Giannone & Lucrezia Reichlin & Saverio Simonelli, 2009. "Nowcasting Euro Area Economic Activity in Real-Time: The Role of Confidence Indicator," ECARES Working Papers 2009_021, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Ecares. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Barhoumi, K. & Rünstler, G. & Cristadoro, R. & Den Reijer, A. & Jakaitiene, A. & Jelonek, P. & Rua, A. & Ruth, K. & Benk, S. & Van Nieuwenhuyze, C., 2008. "Short-term forecasting of GDP using large monthly datasets: a pseudo real-time forecast evaluation exercise," Documents de Travail 215, Banque de France. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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