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On the Evaluation of Hierarchical Forecasts

Author

Listed:
  • George Athanasopoulos
  • Nikolaos Kourentzes

Abstract

The aim of this note is to provide a thinking road-map and a practical guide to researchers and practitioners working on hierarchical forecasting problems. Evaluating the performance of hierarchical forecasts comes with new challenges stemming from both the statistical structure of the hierarchy and the application context. We discuss four relevant dimensions for researchers and analysts: the scale and units of time series, the issue of sparsity, the decision context and the importance of multiple evaluation windows. We conclude with a series of practical recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • George Athanasopoulos & Nikolaos Kourentzes, 2020. "On the Evaluation of Hierarchical Forecasts," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 2/20, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    • Handle: RePEc:msh:ebswps:2020-2
    as

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    File URL: https://www.monash.edu/business/ebs/research/publications/ebs/wp02-2020.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kourentzes, Nikolaos & Athanasopoulos, George, 2019. "Cross-temporal coherent forecasts for Australian tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 393-409.
    2. Panagiotelis, Anastasios & Athanasopoulos, George & Gamakumara, Puwasala & Hyndman, Rob J., 2021. "Forecast reconciliation: A geometric view with new insights on bias correction," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 343-359.
    3. Jeon, Jooyoung & Panagiotelis, Anastasios & Petropoulos, Fotios, 2019. "Probabilistic forecast reconciliation with applications to wind power and electric load," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 279(2), pages 364-379.
    4. George Athanasopoulos & Puwasala Gamakumara & Anastasios Panagiotelis & Rob J Hyndman & Mohamed Affan, 2019. "Hierarchical Forecasting," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 2/19, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    5. Gneiting, Tilmann, 2011. "Quantiles as optimal point forecasts," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 197-207, April.
    6. Hyndman, Rob J. & Koehler, Anne B., 2006. "Another look at measures of forecast accuracy," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 679-688.
    7. Gneiting, Tilmann, 2011. "Quantiles as optimal point forecasts," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 197-207.
    8. Kourentzes, Nikolaos & Petropoulos, Fotios & Trapero, Juan R., 2014. "Improving forecasting by estimating time series structural components across multiple frequencies," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 291-302.
    9. Shanika L. Wickramasuriya & George Athanasopoulos & Rob J. Hyndman, 2019. "Optimal Forecast Reconciliation for Hierarchical and Grouped Time Series Through Trace Minimization," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 114(526), pages 804-819, April.
    10. Athanasopoulos, George & Hyndman, Rob J. & Kourentzes, Nikolaos & Petropoulos, Fotios, 2017. "Forecasting with temporal hierarchies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 262(1), pages 60-74.
    11. Trapero, Juan R. & Pedregal, Diego J. & Fildes, R. & Kourentzes, N., 2013. "Analysis of judgmental adjustments in the presence of promotions," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 234-243.
    12. Makridakis, Spyros & Hibon, Michele, 2000. "The M3-Competition: results, conclusions and implications," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 451-476.
    13. Athanasopoulos, George & Ahmed, Roman A. & Hyndman, Rob J., 2009. "Hierarchical forecasts for Australian domestic tourism," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 146-166.
    14. Kourentzes, Nikolaos, 2014. "On intermittent demand model optimisation and selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 180-190.
    15. Gneiting, Tilmann & Raftery, Adrian E., 2007. "Strictly Proper Scoring Rules, Prediction, and Estimation," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 102, pages 359-378, March.
    16. Kolassa, Stephan, 2016. "Evaluating predictive count data distributions in retail sales forecasting," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 788-803.
    17. Sanders, Nada R. & Graman, Gregory A., 2009. "Quantifying costs of forecast errors: A case study of the warehouse environment," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 116-125, February.
    18. Davydenko, Andrey & Fildes, Robert, 2013. "Measuring forecasting accuracy: The case of judgmental adjustments to SKU-level demand forecasts," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 510-522.
    19. Armstrong, J. Scott & Collopy, Fred, 1992. "Error measures for generalizing about forecasting methods: Empirical comparisons," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 69-80, June.
    20. Kourentzes, Nikolaos & Athanasopoulos, George, 2021. "Elucidate structure in intermittent demand series," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 288(1), pages 141-152.
    21. Fildes, Robert, 1992. "The evaluation of extrapolative forecasting methods," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 81-98, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Panagiotelis, Anastasios & Athanasopoulos, George & Gamakumara, Puwasala & Hyndman, Rob J., 2021. "Forecast reconciliation: A geometric view with new insights on bias correction," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 343-359.
    2. Lila, Maurício Franca & Meira, Erick & Cyrino Oliveira, Fernando Luiz, 2022. "Forecasting unemployment in Brazil: A robust reconciliation approach using hierarchical data," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    3. Athanasopoulos, George & Kourentzes, Nikolaos, 2023. "On the evaluation of hierarchical forecasts," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 1502-1511.
    4. Di Fonzo, Tommaso & Girolimetto, Daniele, 2023. "Cross-temporal forecast reconciliation: Optimal combination method and heuristic alternatives," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 39-57.
    5. Panagiotelis, Anastasios & Gamakumara, Puwasala & Athanasopoulos, George & Hyndman, Rob J., 2023. "Probabilistic forecast reconciliation: Properties, evaluation and score optimisation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(2), pages 693-706.
    6. Chen, Zhi & Gaba, Anil & Tsetlin, Ilia & Winkler, Robert L., 2022. "Evaluating quantile forecasts in the M5 uncertainty competition," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1531-1545.
    7. Pritularga, Kandrika F. & Svetunkov, Ivan & Kourentzes, Nikolaos, 2021. "Stochastic coherency in forecast reconciliation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    aggregation; coherence; hierarchical time series; reconciliation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C18 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Methodolical Issues: General
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • C55 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis

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