Priors for the Long Run

51 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2018

See all articles by Domenico Giannone

Domenico Giannone

International Monetary Fund (IMF); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Michele Lenza

European Central Bank (ECB)

Giorgio E. Primiceri

Northwestern University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 27, 2018

Abstract

We propose a class of prior distributions that discipline the long-run behavior of Vector Autoregressions (VARs). These priors can be naturally elicited using economic theory, which provides guidance on the joint dynamics of macroeconomic time series in the long run. Our priors for the long run are conjugate, and can thus be easily implemented using dummy observations and combined with other popular priors. In VARs with standard macroeconomic variables, a prior based on the long-run predictions of a wide class of theoretical models yields substantial improvements in the forecasting performance.

Keywords: Bayesian vector autoregression, forecasting, overfitting, initial conditions, hierarchical model

JEL Classification: C11, C32, E37

Suggested Citation

Giannone, Domenico and Lenza, Michele and Primiceri, Giorgio E., Priors for the Long Run (February 27, 2018). ECB Working Paper No. 2132; ISBN: 978-92-899-3237-0, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3131580 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3131580

Domenico Giannone

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Michele Lenza (Contact Author)

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

Sonnemannstrasse 22
Frankfurt am Main, 60314
Germany

Giorgio E. Primiceri

Northwestern University - Department of Economics ( email )

2003 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
United States

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.econ.northwestern.edu/faculty/primiceri

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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