This paper develops new model selection methods for forecasting panel data using a set of least squares (LS) vector autoregressions. Model selection is based on minimizing the estimated quadratic forecast risk among candidate models. We provide conditions under which the selection criterion is...

This paper promotes the use of panel data in nowcasting. We shift the existing focus of the literature, which has almost exclusively used time series models to nowcast national aggregate variables like gross domestic product (GDP). We propose a mixed-frequency panel VAR model and a...

We propose a new forecast combination method for panel data vector autoregressions that permit limited forms of parameterized heterogeneity (including fixed effects or incidental trends). Models are fitted using bias-corrected least squares in order to attenuate the effects of small sample bias...