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Assessing the Rationality of Survey Expectations: The Probability Approach

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  • Breitung Jörg

    () (University of Bonn, Institute of Econometrics, Adenauerallee 24–42, 53113 Bonn, Germany)

Abstract

This paper considers popular methods for the quantification of survey expectations. We investigate the asymptotic properties of two variants of the probability approach originally suggested by Carlson and Parkin (1975). It is argued that the traditional method can be interpreted as an instrumental variable estimator that suffers from a severe loss of efficiency if the mean of the target variable is close to zero. The regression approach advocated by Pesaran (1984) can be seen as a special case assuming that expectations of survey participants are uniformly distributed. Applying alternative variants of these approaches to the ZEW survey of expected changes in the inflation rate demonstrates that the regression variant of the Carlson-Parkin methodology yields the best fit to the realized changes of the inflation rate. It turns out, however, that even the best performing quantification method fails to fulfill the requirement of rational expectations, as the variance of the expectation error is significantly reduced by including additional variables such as the lagged inflation rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Breitung Jörg, 2008. "Assessing the Rationality of Survey Expectations: The Probability Approach," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 228(5-6), pages 630-643, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:228:y:2008:i:5-6:p:630-643
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dasgupta, Susmita & Lahiri, Kajal, 1992. "A Comparative Study of Alternative Methods of Quantifying Qualitative Survey Responses Using NAPM Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 10(4), pages 391-400, October.
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    3. Luca Gambetti & Jordi Galí, 2009. "On the Sources of the Great Moderation," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 26-57, January.
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    6. Friedrich Heinemann & Katrin Ullrich, 2006. "The Impact of EMU on Inflation Expectations," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 175-195, April.
    7. Breitung, Jörg, 1988. "Estimating Binary Probit Models under First Order Serial Correlation," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-124, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    8. Michela Nardo, 2003. "The Quantification of Qualitative Survey Data : A Critical Assessment," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(5), pages 645-668, December.
    9. Carlson, John A & Parkin, J Michael, 1975. "Inflation Expectations," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 42(166), pages 123-138, May.
    10. Fishe, Raymond P. H. & Lahiri, Kajal, 1981. "On the estimation of inflationary expectations from qualitative responses," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 89-102, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Piotr Białowolski & Tomasz Kuszewski & Bartosz Witkowski, 2010. "Business Survey Data in Forecasting Macroeconomic Indicators with Combined Forecasts," Contemporary Economics, University of Finance and Management in Warsaw, vol. 4(4), December.
    2. Breitung, Jörg & Schmeling, Maik, 2013. "Quantifying survey expectations: What’s wrong with the probability approach?," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 142-154.

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