Ghostbusting : Which Output Gap Measure Really Matters? /

This paper investigates various output gap measures in a simple inflation forecasting framework. Reflecting the cyclical position of an economy, an (unobservable) output gap has important implications for economic analysis. I construct and compare common output gap measures for five European countri...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor Principal: Billmeier, Andreas
Formato: Revista
Idioma:English
Publicado: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2004.
Series:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2004/146
Acceso en liña:Full text available on IMF
Descripción
Summary:This paper investigates various output gap measures in a simple inflation forecasting framework. Reflecting the cyclical position of an economy, an (unobservable) output gap has important implications for economic analysis. I construct and compare common output gap measures for five European countries. Since output above potential reflects domestic inflationary pressures, including a gap could improve the accuracy of autoregressive inflation forecasting. This assertion is tested in a simple simulated out-of-sample forecasting exercise for the period 1990-2002. The main conclusions are that an output gap rarely provides useful information and that there is no single best output gap measure across countries.
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Descrición Física:1 online resource (35 pages)
Formato:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
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