Improving GDP Measurement: a Forecast Combination Perspective

30 Pages Posted: 21 Sep 2011 Last revised: 6 Feb 2023

See all articles by S. Borağan Aruoba

S. Borağan Aruoba

University of Maryland - Department of Economics

Francis X. Diebold

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Jeremy Nalewaik

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Frank Schorfheide

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); University of Pennsylvania - The Penn Institute for Economic Research (PIER)

Dongho Song

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: September 2011

Abstract

Two often-divergent U.S. GDP estimates are available, a widely-used expenditure side version, GDPE, and a much less widely-used income-side version GDPI . We propose and explore a "forecast combination" approach to combining them. We then put the theory to work, producing a superior combined estimate of GDP growth for the U.S., GDPC. We compare GDPC to GDPE and GDPI , with particular attention to behavior over the business cycle. We discuss several variations and extensions.

Suggested Citation

Aruoba, S. Boragan and Diebold, Francis X. and Nalewaik, Jeremy John and Schorfheide, Frank and Song, Dongho, Improving GDP Measurement: a Forecast Combination Perspective (September 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w17421, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1931192

S. Boragan Aruoba (Contact Author)

University of Maryland - Department of Economics ( email )

College Park, MD 20742
United States
301-405-3508 (Phone)
301-405-3542 (Fax)

Francis X. Diebold

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics ( email )

Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science
133 South 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6297
United States
215-898-1507 (Phone)
215-573-4217 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ssc.upenn.edu/~fdiebold/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
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Jeremy John Nalewaik

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ( email )

20th Street and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20551
United States

Frank Schorfheide

University of Pennsylvania - Department of Economics ( email )

Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science
133 South 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6297
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.upenn.edu/~schorf

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

University of Pennsylvania - The Penn Institute for Economic Research (PIER) ( email )

Philadelphia, PA
United States

Dongho Song

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School ( email )

Baltimore, MD 20036-1984
United States

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