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Forecasting Swiss Exports using Bayesian Forecast Reconciliation

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Abstract

This paper conducts an extensive forecasting study on 13,118 time series measuring Swiss goods exports, grouped hierarchically by export destination and product category. We apply existing state of the art methods in forecast reconciliation and introduce a novel Bayesian reconciliation framework. This approach allows for explicit estimation of reconciliation biases, leading to several innovations: Prior judgment can be used to assign weights to specific forecasts and the occurrence of negative reconciled forecasts can be ruled out. Overall we find strong evidence that in addition to producing coherent forecasts, reconciliation also leads to improvements in forecast accuracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Florian Eckert & Rob J Hyndman & Anastasios Panagiotelis, 2019. "Forecasting Swiss Exports using Bayesian Forecast Reconciliation," KOF Working papers 19-457, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:kof:wpskof:19-457
    DOI: 10.3929/ethz-b-000354388
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    2. Girolimetto, Daniele & Athanasopoulos, George & Di Fonzo, Tommaso & Hyndman, Rob J., 2024. "Cross-temporal probabilistic forecast reconciliation: Methodological and practical issues," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 1134-1151.
    3. Borgonovo, Emanuele & Jose, Victor Richmond R. & Knowlton, Morgan & Shachter, Ross & Siebert, Johannes Ulrich & Ulu, Canan, 2026. "Fifty years of decision analysis in operational research: A review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 329(2), pages 355-377.
    4. Panagiotelis, Anastasios & Gamakumara, Puwasala & Athanasopoulos, George & Hyndman, Rob J., 2023. "Probabilistic forecast reconciliation: Properties, evaluation and score optimisation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(2), pages 693-706.
    5. Raffaele Mattera & George Athanasopoulos & Rob Hyndman, 2024. "Improving out-of-sample forecasts of stock price indexes with forecast reconciliation and clustering," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(11), pages 1641-1667, November.
    6. Koop, Gary & McIntyre, Stuart & Mitchell, James & Poon, Aubrey, 2024. "Using stochastic hierarchical aggregation constraints to nowcast regional economic aggregates," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 626-640.
    7. Ye, Yuan & Lu, Yonggang & Robinson, Powell & Narayanan, Arunachalam, 2022. "An empirical Bayes approach to incorporating demand intermittency and irregularity into inventory control," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 303(1), pages 255-272.
    8. Serhii Lupenko & Andrii Horkunenko, 2025. "Stochastic Model and Rhythm-Adaptive Technologies of Statistical Analysis and Forecasting of Economic Processes with Cyclic Components," Forecasting, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-26, May.
    9. Athanasopoulos, George & Hyndman, Rob J. & Kourentzes, Nikolaos & Panagiotelis, Anastasios, 2024. "Forecast reconciliation: A review," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 430-456.
    10. Møller, Jan Kloppenborg & Nystrup, Peter & Madsen, Henrik, 2024. "Likelihood-based inference in temporal hierarchies," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 515-531.
    11. Di Fonzo, Tommaso & Girolimetto, Daniele, 2023. "Cross-temporal forecast reconciliation: Optimal combination method and heuristic alternatives," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 39-57.
    12. Daniele Girolimetto & George Athanasopoulos & Tommaso Di Fonzo & Rob J Hyndman, 2023. "Cross-temporal Probabilistic Forecast Reconciliation," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 6/23, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    13. Florian Eckert & Nina Mühlebach, 2023. "Global and local components of output gaps," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(5), pages 2301-2331, November.

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    JEL classification:

    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E17 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications

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