In Search of Information : Use of Google Trends' Data to Narrow Information Gaps for Low-income Developing Countries /

Timely data availability is a long-standing challenge in policy-making and analysis for low-income developing countries. This paper explores the use of Google Trends' data to narrow such information gaps and finds that online search frequencies about a country significantly correlate with macro...

Popoln opis

Bibliografske podrobnosti
Glavni avtor: Narita, Futoshi
Drugi avtorji: Yin, Rujun
Format: Revija
Jezik:English
Izdano: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2018.
Serija:IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2018/286
Online dostop:Full text available on IMF
Opis
Izvleček:Timely data availability is a long-standing challenge in policy-making and analysis for low-income developing countries. This paper explores the use of Google Trends' data to narrow such information gaps and finds that online search frequencies about a country significantly correlate with macroeconomic variables (e.g., real GDP, inflation, capital flows), conditional on other covariates. The correlation with real GDP is stronger than that of nighttime lights, whereas the opposite is found for emerging market economies. The search frequencies also improve out-of-sample forecasting performance albeit slightly, demonstrating their potential to facilitate timely assessments of economic conditions in low-income developing countries.
Opis knjige/članka:<strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required
<strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required
Fizični opis:1 online resource (51 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:1018-5941
Dostop:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students