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Forecasting the real prices of crude oil under economic and statistical constraints

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  • Wang, Yudong
  • Liu, Li
  • Diao, Xundi
  • Wu, Chongfeng

Abstract

Forecasting the real oil prices is important but notoriously difficult. In this paper, we apply both economic and statistical restrictions to parameters of predictive regressions of real oil prices. We employ two popular criteria, mean predictive error (MSPE) and success ratio, to evaluate forecasting accuracy. Our out-of-sample results show that the benchmark of no-change model can be significantly outperformed by a model selection strategy with restricted models for longer horizons. The revealed predictability is further demonstrated to be robust to the adjustment of estimation windows and to an alternative benchmark model.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Yudong & Liu, Li & Diao, Xundi & Wu, Chongfeng, 2015. "Forecasting the real prices of crude oil under economic and statistical constraints," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 599-608.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:51:y:2015:i:c:p:599-608
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2015.09.003
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Real oil price; Parameter restriction; Model selection; Forecasting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q47 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy Forecasting
    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E37 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • E39 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Other

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