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Bayesian forecasting of federal funds target rate decisions

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  • van den Hauwe, Sjoerd
  • Paap, Richard
  • van Dijk, Dick

Abstract

In this paper we examine which macroeconomic and financial variables have most predictive ability for the federal funds target rate decisions made by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). We conduct the analysis for the 157 FOMC decisions during the period January 1990–June 2008, using dynamic ordered probit models with a Bayesian endogenous variable selection methodology and real-time data for a set of 33 candidate predictor variables. We find that indicators of economic activity and forward-looking term structure variables, as well as survey measures are most informative from a forecasting perspective. For the full sample period, in-sample probability forecasts achieve a hit rate of 90%. Based on out-of-sample forecasts for the period January 2001–June 2008, 82% of the FOMC decisions are predicted correctly.

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  • van den Hauwe, Sjoerd & Paap, Richard & van Dijk, Dick, 2013. "Bayesian forecasting of federal funds target rate decisions," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 19-40.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:37:y:2013:i:c:p:19-40
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmacro.2013.05.001
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Federal funds target rate; Real-time forecasting; Dynamic ordered probit; Variable selection; Bayesian analysis; Importance sampling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods

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