Forecasting with High-Dimensional Panel VARs

Koop, Gary and Korobilis, Dimitris (2015): Forecasting with High-Dimensional Panel VARs.

Abstract

This paper develops methods for estimating and forecasting in Bayesian panel vector autoregressions of large dimensions with time-varying parameters and stochastic volatility. We exploit a hierarchical prior that takes into account possible pooling restrictions involving both VAR coefficients and the error covariance matrix, and propose a Bayesian dynamic learning procedure that controls for various sources of model uncertainty. We tackle computational concerns by means of a simulation-free algorithm that relies on an analytical approximation of the posterior distribution. We use our methods to forecast inflation rates in the eurozone and show that forecasts from our flexible specification are superior to alternative methods for large vector autoregressions.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Panel VAR, inflation forecasting, Bayesian, time-varying parameter model
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General > C11 - Bayesian Analysis: General; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General > C15 - Statistical Simulation Methods: General; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C32 - Time-Series Models ; Dynamic Quantile Regressions ; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models ; Diffusion Processes ; State Space Models

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