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Forecasting economic activity with mixed frequency BVARs

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  • Brave, Scott A.
  • Butters, R. Andrew
  • Justiniano, Alejandro

Abstract

Mixed frequency Bayesian vector autoregressions (MF-BVARs) allow forecasters to incorporate large numbers of time series that are observed at different intervals into forecasts of economic activity. This paper benchmarks the performances of MF-BVARs for forecasting U.S. real gross domestic product growth against surveys of professional forecasters and documents the influences of certain specification choices. We find that a medium–large MF-BVAR provides an attractive alternative to surveys at the medium-term forecast horizons that are of interest to central bankers and private sector analysts. Furthermore, we demonstrate that certain specification choices influence its performance strongly, such as model size, prior selection mechanisms, and modeling in levels versus growth rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Brave, Scott A. & Butters, R. Andrew & Justiniano, Alejandro, 2019. "Forecasting economic activity with mixed frequency BVARs," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 1692-1707.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfor:v:35:y:2019:i:4:p:1692-1707
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2019.02.010
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    7. Markus Heinrich & Magnus Reif, 2020. "Real-Time Forecasting Using Mixed-Frequency VARS with Time-Varying Parameters," CESifo Working Paper Series 8054, CESifo.
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    9. Alain Hecq & Marie Ternes & Ines Wilms, 2021. "Hierarchical Regularizers for Mixed-Frequency Vector Autoregressions," Papers 2102.11780, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2022.
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    13. Consolo, Agostino & Foroni, Claudia & Martínez Hernández, Catalina, 2021. "A mixed frequency BVAR for the euro area labour market," Working Paper Series 2601, European Central Bank.
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