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srvar-toolkit: A Python Implementation of Shadow-Rate Vector Autoregressions with Stochastic Volatility

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  • Charles Shaw

Abstract

We introduce srvar-toolkit, an open-source Python package for Bayesian vector autoregression with shadow-rate constraints and stochastic volatility. The toolkit implements the methodology of Grammatikopoulos (2025, Journal of Forecasting) for forecasting macroeconomic variables when interest rates hit the effective lower bound. We provide conjugate Normal-Inverse-Wishart priors with Minnesota-style shrinkage, latent shadow-rate data augmentation via Gibbs sampling, diagonal stochastic volatility using the Kim-Shephard-Chib mixture approximation, and stochastic search variable selection. Core dependencies are NumPy, SciPy, and Pandas, with optional extras for plotting and a configuration-driven command-line interface. We release the software under the MIT licence at https://github.com/shawcharles/srvar-toolkit.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Shaw, 2025. "srvar-toolkit: A Python Implementation of Shadow-Rate Vector Autoregressions with Stochastic Volatility," Papers 2512.19589, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2512.19589
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sims, Christopher A, 1980. "Macroeconomics and Reality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 1-48, January.
    2. Sangjoon Kim & Neil Shephard & Siddhartha Chib, 1998. "Stochastic Volatility: Likelihood Inference and Comparison with ARCH Models," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(3), pages 361-393.
    3. Jing Cynthia Wu & Fan Dora Xia, 2016. "Measuring the Macroeconomic Impact of Monetary Policy at the Zero Lower Bound," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2-3), pages 253-291, March.
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