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Forecasting with Feedback
Title / Series / Name
Publication Volume
Publication Issue
Pages
Editors
Keywords
Economics - Econometrics
Economics - Theoretical Economics
Economics - Theoretical Economics
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/27089
Abstract
Systematically biased forecasts are typically interpreted as evidence of forecasters' irrationality and/or asymmetric loss. In this paper we propose an alternative explanation: when forecasts inform economic policy decisions, and the resulting actions affect the realization of the forecast target itself, forecasts may be optimally biased even under quadratic loss. The result arises in environments in which the forecaster is uncertain about the decision maker's reaction to the forecast, which is presumably the case in most applications. We illustrate the empirical relevance of our theory by reviewing some stylized properties of Green Book inflation forecasts and relating them to the predictions from our model. Our results point out that the presence of policy feedback poses a challenge to traditional tests of forecast rationality.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Type
Date
2024
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
10.48550/arXiv.2308.15062