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Macroeconomic uncertainty indices based on nowcast and forecast error distributions

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Abstract

The Great Recession of 2007:IV-2009:II sparked great interest in understanding uncertainty and its effects on the macroeconomy. This paper introduces a new approach to measure uncertainty. We start from the same premise as in Jurado et al. (2014), that is: "What matters for economic decision making is whether the economy has become more or less predictable; that is, less or more uncertain." However, as opposed to Jurado et al. (2014), the uncertainty index we propose relies on the unconditional likelihood of the observed outcome. More specifically, our proposed index is the percentile in the historical distribution of forecast errors associated with the realized forecast error.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbara Rossi & Tatevik Sekhposyan, 2015. "Macroeconomic uncertainty indices based on nowcast and forecast error distributions," Economics Working Papers 1477, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:1477
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicholas Bloom, 2009. "The Impact of Uncertainty Shocks," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 623-685, May.
    2. Segal, Gill & Shaliastovich, Ivan & Yaron, Amir, 2015. "Good and bad uncertainty: Macroeconomic and financial market implications," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 369-397.
    3. G. Elliott & C. Granger & A. Timmermann (ed.), 2013. "Handbook of Economic Forecasting," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    4. Rossi, Barbara & Sekhposyan, Tatevik, 2014. "Evaluating predictive densities of US output growth and inflation in a large macroeconomic data set," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 662-682.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications

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