{"title":"Are professional forecasters inattentive to public discussions about inflation? The case of Argentina","authors":"J. Daniel Aromí, Martín Llada","doi":"10.1002/for.3141","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3141","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We evaluate whether professional forecasters incorporate valuable information from public discussions on social media. The study covers the case of inflation in Argentina for the period 2016–2022. We find solid evidence consistent with inattention. A simple indicator of attention to inflation on social media is shown to anticipate professional forecast errors. A one standard deviation increment in the indicator is followed by a rise of 0.4% in mean forecast errors in the subsequent month and by a cumulative increment of 0.7% over the next 6 months. Furthermore, social media content anticipates significant revisions in forecasts that target multiple months ahead inflation and calendar year inflation. These findings are different from previously documented forms of inattention. Consistent results are verified by implementing out-of-sample forecasts and using content from an alternative social network. The study has implications for the use of professional forecasts in the context of policymaking and sheds new evidence on the nature of imperfect information in macroeconomics.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2572-2587"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140937054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Forecasting corporate financial performance with deep learning and interpretable ALE method: Evidence from China","authors":"Longyue Liang, Bo Liu, Zhi Su, Xuanye Cai","doi":"10.1002/for.3138","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3138","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Forecasting and analyzing corporate financial performance are of significant value to investors, managers, and regulators. In this paper, we constructed the one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D-CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) deep learning models to investigate the feasibility of forecasting corporate financial performance with deep learning models, using the corporate financial features and environment, social and governance (ESG) rating index of Chinese A-share listed corporation data from 2015 to 2021. Five evaluation metrics were employed to measure models' forecasting effects, and four competing machine learning models were built to verify the improvement in forecasting accuracy brought by the deep learning models. Furthermore, we also introduced the Accumulated Local Effects method to explore the forecasting processes of the deep learning models. The empirical results show the following: (1) Deep learning models can effectively extract the time-series information in corporate data, thereby solving the task of predicting corporate financial performance with high accuracy. (2) The introduction of ESG information significantly contributes to the forecasting accuracy of corporate financial performance. For both 1D-CNN and LSTM models, the ESG rating index can provide additional useful information for forecasting. (3) The interpretable results reveal the preference and emphasis of the two deep learning models for the different features. This further proves the robustness and reliability of deep learning models in forecasting corporate financial performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2540-2571"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141056494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Data patterns that reliably precede US recessions","authors":"Edward E. Leamer","doi":"10.1002/for.3140","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3140","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper proposes a method of forecasting US recessions beginning with data displays that contain the last 12 quarters of seven US expansions. These end-of-expansion displays allow observers to see for themselves what is different about the last year before recessions compared with the two earlier years. Using a statistical model that treats this historical data as draws from a 12-dimensional multivariate normal distribution, the most recent data are probabilistically inserted into these images where the recent data are most like the historical data. This is a recession forecast based not on presumed patterns but on patterns revealed by the data.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2522-2539"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/for.3140","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140841100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yue Qiu, Jiabei He, Zhensong Chen, Yinhong Yao, Yi Qu
{"title":"A novel semisupervised learning method with textual information for financial distress prediction","authors":"Yue Qiu, Jiabei He, Zhensong Chen, Yinhong Yao, Yi Qu","doi":"10.1002/for.3136","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3136","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Financial distress prediction (FDP) has attracted high attention from many financial institutions. Utilizing supervised learning-based methods in FDP, however, is time consuming and labor intensive. Therefore, in this paper, we exploit active-pSVM method, which combines potential data distribution information and existing expert experience to solve FDP problem. Moreover, with the increasingly popular textual information, we construct several features on our protocol that are based on the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) text information. Using datasets that are collected in different time windows from the listed Chinese companies, we conducted an extensive experiment and were able to confirm a better efficiency of our active-pSVM, when compared with some common supervised learning-based methods. Our study also covers the application of MD&A text information on weakly supervised learning model in FDP.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2478-2494"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140660669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gaoxiu Qiao, Yijun Pan, Chao Liang, Lu Wang, Jinghui Wang
{"title":"Forecasting Chinese crude oil futures volatility: New evidence based on dual feature processing of large-scale variables","authors":"Gaoxiu Qiao, Yijun Pan, Chao Liang, Lu Wang, Jinghui Wang","doi":"10.1002/for.3131","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3131","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper aims to study the volatility forecasting of Chinese crude oil futures from the large-scale variables perspective by considering both the information on international futures markets volatility and technical indicators of Chinese crude oil futures. We employ the dual feature processing method (LASSO-PCA) by integrating least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and principal component analysis (PCA) to extract important factors of the large-scale exogenous variables. Besides the traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation, the nonlinear support vector regression (SVR) approach is employed to integrate with the LASSO-PCA method. The empirical results show that both the OLS and SVR combined with LASSO-PCA can improve the forecasting accuracy, especially SVR-LASSO-PCA owns the best forecasting performance. The analysis of the selected variables finds international futures volatility is chosen more frequently. These results are further validated through a series of robust experiments. Finally, the time difference between China and the United States is also considered in order to obtain more reasonable out-of-sample forecasting.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2495-2521"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140663593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Credit card loss forecasting: Some lessons from COVID","authors":"Partha Sengupta, Christopher H. Wheeler","doi":"10.1002/for.3137","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3137","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Models developed by banks to forecast losses in their credit card portfolios have generally performed poorly during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in 2020, when large forecast errors were observed at many banks. In this study, we attempt to understand the source of this error and explore ways to improve model fit. We use account-level monthly performance data from the largest credit card banks in the U.S. between 2008 and 2018 to build models that mimic the typical model design employed by large banks to forecast credit card losses. We then fit these on data from 2019 to 2021. We find that COVID-period model errors can be reduced significantly through two simple modifications: (1) including measures of the macroeconomic environment beyond indicators of the labor market, which served as the primary macro drivers used in many pre-pandemic models and (2) adjusting macro drivers to capture persistent/sustained changes, as opposed to temporary volatility in these variables. These model improvements, we find, can be achieved without a significant reduction in model performance for the pre-COVID period, including the Great Recession. Moreover, in broadening the set of macro influences and capturing sustained changes, we believe models can be made more robust to future downturns, which may bear little resemblance to past recessions.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2448-2477"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140668615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prediction of wind energy with the use of tensor-train based higher order dynamic mode decomposition","authors":"Keren Li, Sergey Utyuzhnikov","doi":"10.1002/for.3126","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3126","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As the international energy market pays more and more attention to the development of clean energy, wind power is gradually attracting the attention of various countries. Wind power is a sustainable and environmentally friendly resource of energy. However, it is unstable. Therefore, it is important to develop algorithms for its prediction. In this paper, we apply a recently developed algorithm that effectively combines the tensor train decomposition with the higher order dynamic mode decomposition (TT-HODMD). The dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) is a data-driven technique that does not need a prior mathematical model. It is based on the measurement data or time slots. As demonstrated, for prediction it is important to use the higher order DMD (HODMD). In turn, HODMD might lead to very large scale arrays that are sparse. The tensor train decomposition provides a highly efficient way to work with such arrays. It is demonstrated that the combined TT-HODMD algorithm is capable of providing quite accurate prediction of wind power for months ahead.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2434-2447"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/for.3126","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140578034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multivariable forecasting approach of high-speed railway passenger demand based on residual term of Baidu search index and error correction","authors":"Hongtao Li, Xiaoxuan Li, Shaolong Sun, Zhipeng Huang, Xiaoyan Jia","doi":"10.1002/for.3134","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3134","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Accurate prior information of passenger flow demand on high-speed railway is of great significance for the operation and the management of transportation systems. Various factors in modern social life have caused uncertainty at demand. Recently, individuals are increasingly depending on the online search results when choosing among different transportation modes, services, and destinations, which provide important basic information for forecasting the travel demand. This study employs Baidu search index to assist in capturing volatility of high-speed railway passenger demands, offering insights into the travel inclinations and travelers' actions. Furthermore, we have given more in-depth attention and analysis to their residual term accounting for the random nature caused by various factors. To this end, a sophisticated deep analysis mechanism based on data decomposition has been devised to extract and analyze the valuable information concealed within the residuals, so as to enhance the comprehension of the variability inherent in the high-speed railway passenger flow. Meanwhile, an error correction strategy is implemented for all residual terms to improve further their forecasting accuracy. Experimental results from two real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the developed hybrid approach across several popular evaluation indicators. Therefore, this study can function as a reliable instrument, provide sensible data-driven guidance for resource allocation and make scientific decisions in the railway industry.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 7","pages":"2401-2433"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140578114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hybrid forecasting of crude oil volatility index: The cross-market effects of stock market jumps","authors":"Gongyue Jiang, Gaoxiu Qiao, Lu Wang, Feng Ma","doi":"10.1002/for.3132","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3132","url":null,"abstract":"<p>From the cross-market perspective, this paper investigates crude oil volatility index (OVX) forecasts by proposing a hybrid method, which combines the data-driven SVR technique and parametric models. In terms of parametric models, we utilize GARCH-type models with jumps, and the forecasting effects of five non-parametric jumps (including interday and intraday jump tests) of stock market are also explored. Empirical results show that our approach can substantially increase forecasting accuracy. In addition, the model confidence set test and robust test reaffirm the superiority of the novel hybrid method. From the assessment of economic significance, the advantages of the hybrid method for volatility index forecasting are further confirmed. All these findings imply that jumps of stock market can be helpful in forecasting OVX, especially after the introduction of the hybrid method. Our work can certainly provide a new insight for volatility forecasting and cross-market research.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 6","pages":"2378-2398"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140578112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are national or regional surveys useful for nowcasting regional jobseekers? The case of the French region of Pays-de-la-Loire","authors":"Clément Cariou, Amélie Charles, Olivier Darné","doi":"10.1002/for.3125","DOIUrl":"10.1002/for.3125","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In this paper we develop nowcasting models for the Pays-de-la-Loire's jobseekers, a dynamic French regional economy. We ask whether these regional nowcasts are more accurate by only using the regional data or by combining the national and regional data. For this purpose, we use penalized regressions, random forest, and dynamic factor models as well as dimension reduction approaches. The best nowcasting performance is provided by the DFM estimated on the regional and regional-national databases as well as the Elastic-Net model with a prior screening step for which the national data are the most frequently selected data. For the latter, it appears that the Change in foreign orders in the industry sector, the OECD Composite leading indicator, and the BdF Business sentiment indicator are among the major predictors.</p>","PeriodicalId":47835,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Forecasting","volume":"43 6","pages":"2341-2357"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/for.3125","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140712985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}