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An unconventional weekly economic activity index for Germany

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  • Eraslan, Sercan
  • Götz, Thomas

Abstract

We introduce an unconventional activity index for the German economy at weekly frequency in order to monitor economic developments in real time. The index contains nine high-frequency, rather unconventional weekly indicators. These are augmented by monthly industrial production and quarterly gross domestic product (GDP). The weekly activity index is then calculated as the common factor of the mixed-frequency dataset. We show that the index (i) exhibits a high correlation with quarterly GDP growth, (ii) is able to serve as a reliable weekly coincident indicator for economic activity, and (iii) can be used to generate timely nowcasts for GDP growth in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Eraslan, Sercan & Götz, Thomas, 2021. "An unconventional weekly economic activity index for Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:204:y:2021:i:c:s0165176521001580
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109881
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Roberto S. Mariano & Yasutomo Murasawa, 2003. "A new coincident index of business cycles based on monthly and quarterly series," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(4), pages 427-443.
    2. Daniel Lewis & Karel Mertens & James H. Stock, 2020. "U.S. Economic Activity During the Early Weeks of the SARS-Cov-2 Outbreak," NBER Working Papers 26954, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Aruoba, S. BoraÄŸan & Diebold, Francis X. & Scotti, Chiara, 2009. "Real-Time Measurement of Business Conditions," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 27(4), pages 417-427.
    4. Daniel J. Lewis & Karel Mertens & James H. Stock & Mihir Trivedi, 2022. "Measuring real activity using a weekly economic index," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(4), pages 667-687, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Eraslan, Sercan & Reif, Magnus, 2023. "A latent weekly GDP indicator for Germany," Technical Papers 08/2023, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    2. Robert Lehmann & Sascha Möhrle, 2024. "Forecasting regional industrial production with novel high‐frequency electricity consumption data," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1918-1935, September.
    3. Buda, G. & Carvalho, V. M. & Corsetti, G. & Duarte, J. B. & Hansen, S. & Moura, A. S. & Ortiz, A. & Rodrigo, T. & Ortiz, A. & Ortiz, A., 2023. "Short and Variable Lags," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2321, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Ashton de Silva & Maria Yanotti & Sarah Sinclair & Sveta Angelopoulos, 2023. "Place‐Based Policies and Nowcasting," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 56(3), pages 363-370, September.
    5. Daniel J. Lewis & Karel Mertens & James H. Stock & Mihir Trivedi, 2022. "Measuring real activity using a weekly economic index," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(4), pages 667-687, June.
    6. Kozyrev, Boris, 2024. "Forecast combination and interpretability using random subspace," IWH Discussion Papers 21/2024, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    7. Aprigliano, Valentina & Emiliozzi, Simone & Guaitoli, Gabriele & Luciani, Andrea & Marcucci, Juri & Monteforte, Libero, 2023. "The power of text-based indicators in forecasting Italian economic activity," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 791-808.
    8. Barbaglia, Luca & Frattarolo, Lorenzo & Onorante, Luca & Pericoli, Filippo Maria & Ratto, Marco & Tiozzo Pezzoli, Luca, 2023. "Testing big data in a big crisis: Nowcasting under Covid-19," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 1548-1563.
    9. Holtemöller, Oliver & Kozyrev, Boris, 2024. "Forecasting economic activity using a neural network in uncertain times: Monte Carlo evidence and application to the German GDP," IWH Discussion Papers 6/2024, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    10. Arshad, Selvia & Beyer, Robert C.M., 2023. "Tracking economic fluctuations with electricity consumption in Bangladesh," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    11. Mantas Lukauskas & Vaida Pilinkienė & Jurgita Bruneckienė & Alina Stundžienė & Andrius Grybauskas & Tomas Ruzgas, 2022. "Economic Activity Forecasting Based on the Sentiment Analysis of News," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(19), pages 1-22, September.
    12. Beck, Günter W. & Carstensen, Kai & Menz, Jan-Oliver & Schnorrenberger, Richard & Wieland, Elisabeth, 2023. "Nowcasting consumer price inflation using high-frequency scanner data: Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers 34/2023, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    13. Haertel, Thomas & Hamburg, Britta & Kusin, Vladimir, 2022. "The macroeconometric model of the Bundesbank revisited," Technical Papers 01/2022, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    14. Holtemöller, Oliver & Kozyrev, Boris, 2023. "Forecasting Economic Activity with a Neural Network in Uncertain Times: Monte Carlo Evidence and Application to German GDP," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277688, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Simone Emiliozzi & Concetta Rondinelli & Stefania Villa, 2023. "Consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic: evidence from Italian credit cards," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 769, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    16. Wegmüller, Philipp & Glocker, Christian & Guggia, Valentino, 2023. "Weekly economic activity: Measurement and informational content," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 228-243.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business cycle; Economic indicator; Factor analysis; High frequency; Mixed frequency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C38 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Classification Methdos; Cluster Analysis; Principal Components; Factor Analysis
    • C43 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Index Numbers and Aggregation
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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