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Fathoming empirical forecasting competitions’ winners

Author

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  • Alroomi, Azzam
  • Karamatzanis, Georgios
  • Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos
  • Tilba, Anna
  • Xiao, Shujun

Abstract

The M5 forecasting competition has provided strong empirical evidence that machine learning methods can outperform statistical methods: in essence, complex methods can be more accurate than simple ones. Regardless, this result challenges the flagship empirical result that led the forecasting discipline for the last four decades: keep methods sophisticatedly simple. Nevertheless, this was a first, and we can argue that this will not happen again. There has been a different winner in each forecasting competition. This inevitably raises the question: can a method win more than once (and should it be expected to)? Furthermore, we argue for the need to elaborate on the perks of competing methods, and what makes them winners?

Suggested Citation

  • Alroomi, Azzam & Karamatzanis, Georgios & Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos & Tilba, Anna & Xiao, Shujun, 2022. "Fathoming empirical forecasting competitions’ winners," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1519-1525.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfor:v:38:y:2022:i:4:p:1519-1525
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2022.03.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Petropoulos, Fotios & Apiletti, Daniele & Assimakopoulos, Vassilios & Babai, Mohamed Zied & Barrow, Devon K. & Ben Taieb, Souhaib & Bergmeir, Christoph & Bessa, Ricardo J. & Bijak, Jakub & Boylan, Joh, 2022. "Forecasting: theory and practice," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 705-871.
      • Fotios Petropoulos & Daniele Apiletti & Vassilios Assimakopoulos & Mohamed Zied Babai & Devon K. Barrow & Souhaib Ben Taieb & Christoph Bergmeir & Ricardo J. Bessa & Jakub Bijak & John E. Boylan & Jet, 2020. "Forecasting: theory and practice," Papers 2012.03854, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2022.
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