This study utilizes the dynamic factor model of Giannone et al. (2008) in order to make now-/forecasts of GDP quarter-on-quarter growth rates in Switzerland. It also assesses the informational content of macroeconomic data releases for forecasting of the Swiss GDP. We find that the factor model...

This study presents a model that delivers more accurate forecasts of the revised rather initial estimates of the quarterly GDP growth rate in Switzerland during the period of the recent financial crisis. The key explanation to our findings is that our model, capitalizing on the information...

In this article we derive conditions which ensure the non-negativity of the conditional variance in the Hyperbolic GARCH(p; d; q) (HYGARCH) model of Davidson (2004). The conditions are necessary and sufficient for p < 2 and sufficient for p > 2 and emerge as natural extensions of the inequality constraints derived in...</2>

In this paper, we investigate whether the Google search activity can help in nowcasting the year-on-year growth rates of monthly US private consumption using a real-time data set. The Google-based forecasts are compared to those based on a benchmark AR(1) model and the models including the...

This paper considers a formulation of the extended constant or time-varying conditional correlation GARCH model which allows for volatility feedback of either sign, i.e., positive or negative. In the previous literature, negative volatility spillovers were ruled out by the assumption that all...

We investigate whether the KOF Barometer - a leading indicator regularly released by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute - can be useful for short-term out-of-sample prediction of year-on-year quarterly real GDP growth rates in Switzerland. We find that the KOF Barometer appears to be useful for...

This paper analyses revisions of Swiss current account data, taking into account the actual data revision process and the implied types of revisions. In addition we investigate whether the first release of current account data can be improved upon by the use of survey results as gathered by the...

This study investigates the usefulness of the business tendency surveys collected at the KOF institute for short-term forecasting of employment in Switzerland aggregated in the KOF Employment Indicator. We use the real time dataset in order to simulate the actual predictive process using only...

The paper evaluates the quality of the German national accounting data (GDP and its use-side components) as measured by the magnitude and dispersion of the forecast/revision errors. It is demonstrated that government consumption series are the least reliable, whereas real GDP and real private...

This paper assesses the probability method for quantifying EU consumer survey data on perceived and expected inflation. Based on household level data from the Swedish consumer survey that asks for both qualitative and quantitative responses, it is found that the theoretical assumptions of the...