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Output Gaps in Real Time: Are They Reliable Enough to Use for Monetary Policy?

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Author Info
David Gruen (Reserve Bank of Australia)
Tim Robinson (Reserve Bank of Australia)
Andrew Stone (Reserve Bank of Australia)
Abstract

The output gap - the difference between actual and potential output - is widely regarded as a useful guide to future inflationary pressures, as well as an important indicator of the state of the economy in its own right. Since the output gap is unobservable, however, its estimation is prone to error, particularly in real time. Errors result both from revisions to the underlying data, as well as from end-point problems that are endemic to econometric procedures used to estimate output gaps. These problems reduce the reliability of output gaps estimated in real time, and lead to questions about their usefulness. We examine 121 vintages of Australian GDP data to assess the seriousness of these problems. Our study, which is the first to address these issues using Australian data, is of interest for the method we use to obtain real-time output-gap estimates. Over the past 28 years, our real-time output-gap estimates show no apparent bias, when compared with final output-gap estimates derived with the benefit of hindsight using the latest available data. Furthermore, the root-mean-square difference between the real-time and final output-gap series is less than 2 percentage points, and the correlation between them is over 0.8. Our general conclusion is that quite good estimates of the output gap can be generated in real time, provided a sufficiently flexible and robust approach is used to obtain them.

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Paper provided by Reserve Bank of Australia in its series RBA Research Discussion Papers with number rdp2002-06.

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Date of creation: Sep 2002
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Handle: RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp2002-06

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Related research
Keywords: monetary policy; output gaps; real-time data;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General

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. Bennett T. McCallum, 2001. "Should Monetary Policy Respond Strongly to Output Gaps?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 258-262, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Athanasios Orphanides, 2000. "The quest for prosperity without inflation," Working Paper Series 15, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Taylor, John B., 1993. "Discretion versus policy rules in practice," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 195-214, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Meredith Beechey & Nargis Bharucha & Adam Cagliarini & David Gruen & Christopher Thompson, 2000. "A Small Model of the Australian Macroeconomy," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2000-05, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
  5. Douglas Laxton & Guy Debelle, 1996. "Is the Phillips Curve Really a Curve? Some Evidence for Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States," IMF Working Papers 96/111, International Monetary Fund.
  6. Jonas D. M. Fisher & Chin Te Liu & Ruilin Zhou, 2002. "When can we forecast inflation?," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Q I, pages 32-44. [Downloadable!]
  7. Glenn D. Rudebusch, 2001. "Is The Fed Too Timid? Monetary Policy In An Uncertain World," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 203-217, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Andrew Atkeson & Lee E. Ohanian., 2001. "Are Phillips curves useful for forecasting inflation?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, issue Win, pages 2-11. [Downloadable!]
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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. Paloviita , Maritta & Mayes , David, 2004. "The use of real time information in Phillips curve relationships for the euro area," Research Discussion Papers 16/2004, Bank of Finland. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Matthias Mohr, 2005. "A trend-cycle(-season) filter," Working Paper Series 499, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Andrew Stone & Troy Wheatley & Louise Wilkinson, 2005. "A Small Model of the Australian Macroeconomy: An Update," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2005-11, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
  4. Gonzalo Llosa & Shirley Miller, 2005. "Using additional information in estimating the output gap in Peru: a multivariate unobserved component approach," Working Papers 2005-004, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú. [Downloadable!]
  5. Andrew Hughes Hallett, 2005. "Political Devolution without Fiscal Devolution," Working Papers 0505, Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University. [Downloadable!]
  6. Cayen, Jean-Philippe & van Norden, Simon, 2004. "The reliability of Canadian output gap estimates," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2004,29, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Edward Nelson, 2004. "Monetary policy neglect and the Great Inflation in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand," Working Papers 2004-008, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Gonzalo Llosa/Shirley Miller, 2004. "Using additional information in estimating output gap in Peru: a multivariate unobserved component approach," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 243, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  9. Tim Robinson & Andrew Stone & Marileze van Zyl, 2003. "The Real-time Forecasting Performance of Phillips Curves," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2003-12, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
  10. Andrew Stone & Sharon Wardrop, 2002. "Real-time National Accounts Data," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2002-05, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
  11. Nikola Dvornak & Marion Kohler & Gordon Menzies, 2003. "Australia’s Medium-run Exchange Rate: A Macroeconomic Balance Approach," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2003-03, Reserve Bank of Australia. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Michael Graff, 2004. "Estimates of the output gap in real time: how well have we been doing?," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Discussion Paper Series DP 2004/04, Reserve Bank of New Zealand. [Downloadable!]
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