We construct daily house price indexes for ten major U.S. metropolitan areas. Our calculations are based on a comprehensive database of several million residential property transactions and a standard repeat-sales method that closely mimics the procedure used in the construction of the popular...

A mismatch between the time scale of a structural VAR (SVAR) model and that of the time series data used for its estimation can have serious consequences for identification, estimation and interpretation of the impulse response functions. However, the use of mixed frequency data, combined with a...

In this paper we propose a novel approach to obtain the predictive density of global GDP growth. It hinges upon a bottom-up probabilistic model that estimates and combines single countries' predictive GDP growth densities, taking into account cross-country interdependencies. Specifically,we...

This paper shows that newspaper articles contain timely economic signals that can materially improve nowcasts of real GDP growth for the euro area. Our text data is drawn from fifteen popular European newspapers, that collectively represent the four largest Euro area economies, and are machine...

We create a new weekly index of retail trade that accurately predicts the U.S. Census Bureau's Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS). The index's weekly frequency provides an early snapshot of the MRTS and allows for a more granular analysis of the aggregate consumer response to fast-moving events...

High dimensional composite index makes experts' preferences in setting weights a hard task. In the literature, one of the approaches to derive weights from a data set is Principal Component or Factor Analysis that, although conceptually different, they are similar in results when FA is based on...

In this paper a new method of constructing the leading economic index is presented. Its main advantage is the ability to distinguish domestic and foreign factors influencing the growth of economy and it is performed via dynamic hierarchical factor modelling. An application is carried out with...

Das ifo Instiut hat ein neues Handbuch der umfragebasierten Konjunkturforschung erstellt. Das Handbuch gibt einen Überblick über die regelmäßigen Befragungsaktivitäten des Instituts und zeigt Möglichkeiten der wissenschaftlichen Verwertung der Befragungsergebnisse im Rahmen der...

This paper considers the issue of predicting cyclical turning points using real-time diffusion indexes constructed using a large data set from March 2005 to September 2014. We construct diffusion indexes at the monthly frequency, compare several smoothing and signal extraction methods, and...

The state of election forecasting has progressed to the point where it is possible to develop highly accurate forecasts for major elections. However, one area that has received little attention is the use of forecasting as an aid to those involved with political campaigns. In the run-up to the...