Survey Data as Coincident or Leading Indicators

Government of the Italian Republic (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance, Department of the Treasury Working Paper No. 3

33 Pages Posted: 1 Jul 2009

See all articles by Cecilia Frale

Cecilia Frale

Government of the Italian Republic (Italy) - Department of the Treasury

Massimiliano Giuseppe Marcellino

Bocconi University - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Gian Luigi Mazzi

Eurostat

Tommaso Proietti

University of Rome II - Department of Economics and Finance

Date Written: May 3, 2009

Abstract

In this paper we propose a monthly measure for the euro area Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on a small scale factor model for mixed frequency data, featuring two factors: the first is driven by hard data, whereas the second captures the contribution of survey variables as coincident indicators. Within this framework we evaluate both the in-sample contribution of the second survey-based factor, and the short term forecasting performance of the model in a pseudo-real time experiment. We find that the survey-based factor plays a significant role for two components of GDP: Industrial Value Added and Exports. Moreover, the two factor model outperforms in terms of out of sample forecasting accuracy the traditional autoregressive distributed lags (ADL) specifications and the single factor model, with few exceptions for Exports and in growth rates.

Keywords: Survey data, Forecasting, Temporal Disaggregation, Dynamic factor modes, Kalman Filter and smoother

JEL Classification: E32, E37, C53

Suggested Citation

Frale, Cecilia and Marcellino, Massimiliano and Mazzi, Gian Luigi and Proietti, Tommaso, Survey Data as Coincident or Leading Indicators (May 3, 2009). Government of the Italian Republic (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance, Department of the Treasury Working Paper No. 3, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1417458

Cecilia Frale (Contact Author)

Government of the Italian Republic (Italy) - Department of the Treasury ( email )

Via XX Settembre, 87
Rome, 00197
Italy

Massimiliano Marcellino

Bocconi University - Department of Economics ( email )

Via Gobbi 5
Milan, 20136
Italy

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Gian Luigi Mazzi

Eurostat ( email )

JMO Building Bech A2/44
Luxembourg, L-2920
Luxembourg

Tommaso Proietti

University of Rome II - Department of Economics and Finance ( email )

Via Columbia, 2
Rome, 00133
Italy

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
57
Abstract Views
819
Rank
659,560
PlumX Metrics