IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-07g10011.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Some implications of a quartic loss function

Author

Listed:
  • Kevin Aretz

    (Lancaster University)

  • David Peel

    (Lancaster University)

Abstract

Motivated by a central banker with a symmetric but non-quadratic loss function, we show in this note that the approximations of two plausible loss functions of this type will include a quartic term. For skewed distributions, we establish that such a loss function implies a systematic inflation bias even when the bank targets the natural rate. Moreover, we show that the weights in an optimal combination of forecasts will differ from that under quadratic loss. We illustrate these differences using simulated data and data from the Livingston Surveys of Professional Forecasters.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Aretz & David Peel, 2007. "Some implications of a quartic loss function," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 7(13), pages 1-7.
  • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-07g10011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/pubs/EB/2007/Volume7/EB-07G10011A.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elliott, Graham & Timmermann, Allan, 2004. "Optimal forecast combinations under general loss functions and forecast error distributions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 122(1), pages 47-79, September.
    2. Francisco J. Ruge-Murcia, 2000. "Uncovering financial markets' beliefs about inflation targets," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(5), pages 483-512.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:7:y:2007:i:13:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Capistrán, Carlos, 2008. "Bias in Federal Reserve inflation forecasts: Is the Federal Reserve irrational or just cautious?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 1415-1427, November.
    3. Jakub Nowotarski, 2013. "Short-term forecasting of electricity spot prices using model averaging (Krótkoterminowe prognozowanie spotowych cen energii elektrycznej z wykorzystaniem uśredniania modeli)," HSC Research Reports HSC/13/17, Hugo Steinhaus Center, Wroclaw University of Technology.
    4. Norman R. Swanson & Weiqi Xiong, 2018. "Big data analytics in economics: What have we learned so far, and where should we go from here?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(3), pages 695-746, August.
    5. Graham Elliott & Allan Timmermann, 2016. "Economic Forecasting," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10740.
    6. Golosnoy, Vasyl & Hamid, Alain & Okhrin, Yarema, 2014. "The empirical similarity approach for volatility prediction," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 321-329.
    7. Aretz, Kevin & Bartram, Söhnke M. & Pope, Peter F., 2011. "Asymmetric loss functions and the rationality of expected stock returns," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 413-437.
    8. Clements, Michael P. & Harvey, David I., 2011. "Combining probability forecasts," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 208-223.
    9. Ruge-Murcia, Francisco J, 2003. "Inflation Targeting under Asymmetric Preferences," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(5), pages 763-785, October.
    10. Issler, João Victor & Lima, Luiz Renato, 2009. "A panel data approach to economic forecasting: The bias-corrected average forecast," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 152(2), pages 153-164, October.
    11. Elena Andreou & Constantinos Kourouyiannis & Andros Kourtellos, 2012. "Volatility Forecast Combinations using Asymmetric Loss Functions," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 07-2012, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    12. Wagner Piazza Gaglianone & Luiz Renato Lima, 2014. "Constructing Optimal Density Forecasts From Point Forecast Combinations," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 736-757, August.
    13. Jana Eklund & Sune Karlsson, 2007. "Forecast Combination and Model Averaging Using Predictive Measures," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2-4), pages 329-363.
    14. Todd E. Clark & Michael W. McCracken, 2009. "Combining Forecasts from Nested Models," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(3), pages 303-329, June.
    15. Carriero, Andrea & Giacomini, Raffaella, 2011. "How useful are no-arbitrage restrictions for forecasting the term structure of interest rates?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 164(1), pages 21-34, September.
    16. Jin, Sainan & Corradi, Valentina & Swanson, Norman R., 2017. "Robust Forecast Comparison," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(6), pages 1306-1351, December.
    17. Timmermann, Allan, 2006. "Forecast Combinations," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, in: G. Elliott & C. Granger & A. Timmermann (ed.), Handbook of Economic Forecasting, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 135-196, Elsevier.
    18. Gomez, Miguel I. & Gonzalez, Eliana & Melo, Luis F. & Torres, Jose L., 2006. "Forecasting Food Price Inflation, Challenges for Central Banks in Developing Countries using an Inflation Targeting Framework: the Case of Colombia," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21181, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    19. Wagner Piazza Gaglianone & João Victor Issler & Silvia Maria Matos, 2017. "Applying a microfounded-forecasting approach to predict Brazilian inflation," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 137-163, August.
    20. Pierre St-Amant & David Tessier, 2000. "Résultats empiriques multi-pays relatifs à l'impact des cibles d'inflation sur la crédibilité de la politique monétaire," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 26(3), pages 295-310, September.
    21. repec:bea:wpaper:0209 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Athanasopoulos, George & Hyndman, Rob J. & Kourentzes, Nikolaos & Petropoulos, Fotios, 2017. "Forecasting with temporal hierarchies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 262(1), pages 60-74.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-07g10011. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.