Macroeconomic Forecasting and Structural Change

The aim of this paper is to assess whether explicitly modeling structural change increases the accuracy of macroeconomic forecasts. We produce real time out-of-sample forecasts for inflation, the unemployment rate and the interest rate using a Time-Varying Coefficients VAR with Stochastic Volatility (TV-VAR) for the US. The model generates accurate predictions for the three variables. In particular for inflation the TVVAR outperforms, in terms of mean square forecast error, all the competing models: fixed coefficients VARs, Time-Varying ARs and the na¨ýve random walk model. These results are also shown to hold over the most recent period in which it has been hard to forecast inflation.

Comparing Alternative Predictors Based on Large-Panel Factor Models

This paper compares the predictive ability of the factor models of Stock and Watson (2002) and Forni, Hallin, Lippi, and Reichlin (2005) using a “large” panel of US macroeconomic variables. We propose a nesting procedure of comparison that clarifies and partially overturns the results of similar exercises in the literature. As in Stock and Watson (2002), we find that efficiency improvements due to the weighting of the idiosyncratic components do not lead to significant more accurate forecasts. In contrast to Boivin and Ng (2005), we show that the dynamic restrictions imposed by the procedure of Forni, Hallin, Lippi, and Reichlin (2005) are not harmful for predictability. Our main conclusion is that for the dataset at hand the two methods have a similar performance and produce highly collinear forecasts.

Comparing alternative predictors based on large-panel factor models

This paper compares the predictive ability of the factor models of Stock and Watson (2002) and Forni, Hallin, Lippi, and Reichlin (2005) using a "large" panel of US macroeconomic variables. We propose a nesting procedure of comparison that clarifies and partially overturns the results of similar exercises in the literature. As in Stock and Watson (2002), we find that effciency improvements due to the weighting of the idiosyncratic components do not lead to significant more accurate forecasts. In contrast to Boivin and Ng (2005), we show that the dynamic restrictions imposed by the procedure of Forni, Hallin, Lippi, and Reichlin (2005) are not harmful for predictability. Our main conclusion is that for the dataset at hand the two methods have a similar performance and produce highly collinear forecasts. JEL Classification: C31, C52, C53Factor models, forecasting, Large Cross-Section

Does information help recovering structural shocks from past observations?

This paper asks two questions. First, can we detect empirically whether the shocks recovered from the estimates of a structural VAR are truly structural Second, can the problem of nonfundamentalness be solved by considering additional information? The answer to the first question is “yes” and that to the second is “under some conditions”. JEL Classification: C32, C33, E00, E32, O3C33, E00, E32, JEL Classification: C32, O3

Trends and cycles in the euro area: how much heterogeneity and should we worry about it?

Not so much and we should not, at least not yet. JEL Classification: E32, C33, C53, F2, F43euro area, European Integration, Income Insurance, International Business Cycles, Risk Sharing

Trends and cycles in the Euro Area: how much heterogeneity and should we worry about it?

Not so much and we should not, at least not yet.International Business Cycles, Euro Area, Risk Sharing, European Integration, Income Insurance.

Does information help recovering fundamental structural shocks from past observations?

This paper asks two questions. First, can we detect empirically whether the shocks recovered from the estimates of a structural VAR are fundamental? Second, can the problem of non-fundamentalness be solved by considering additional information? The answer to the firrst question is 'yes' and that to the second is 'under some conditions'.

The Feldstein-Horioka fact

This paper shows that general equilibrium effects can partly rationalize the high correlation between saving and investment rates observed in OECD countries. We find that once controlling for general equilibrium effects the saving-retention coefficient remains high in the 70’s but decreases considerably since the 80’s, consistently with the increased capital mobility in OECD countries. JEL Classification: C23, F32, F41Capital Mobility, Dynamic Factor Model, International Comovement, Saving-Investment Correlation