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Do private sector forecasters chase after IMF or OECD forecasts?

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  • Frenkel, Michael
  • Rülke, Jan-Christoph
  • Zimmermann, Lilli

Abstract

In this paper we use data from the Consensus Economics forecast poll to explore the strategic behavior of private sector forecasters with respect to forecasts published by the IMF and the OECD. We focus on four key macroeconomic variables for the G7 countries to analyze whether private sector forecasters herd towards the projections published by these international organizations. Our empirical results show that an anti-herding strategy of private sector forecasters is prevalent for the G7 countries, i.e., they intentionally place their forecasts away from the forecasts published by the IMF and the OECD. In addition, we find that the strategic behavior of private sector forecasters lasts roughly 3months.

Suggested Citation

  • Frenkel, Michael & Rülke, Jan-Christoph & Zimmermann, Lilli, 2013. "Do private sector forecasters chase after IMF or OECD forecasts?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 217-229.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:37:y:2013:i:c:p:217-229
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmacro.2013.03.002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Pierdzioch, Christian & Rülke, Jan-Christoph, 2013. "Do inflation targets anchor inflation expectations?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 214-223.
    3. Philip Hans Franses & Max Welz, 2020. "Does More Expert Adjustment Associate with Less Accurate Professional Forecasts?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-8, March.
    4. Charemza, Wojciech & Ladley, Daniel, 2016. "Central banks’ forecasts and their bias: Evidence, effects and explanation," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 804-817.
    5. Katja Heinisch & Axel Lindner, 2019. "For how long do IMF forecasts of world economic growth stay up-to-date?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 255-260, February.
    6. Pierdzioch, Christian & Reid, Monique B. & Gupta, Rangan, 2016. "Inflation forecasts and forecaster herding: Evidence from South African survey data," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 42-50.
    7. Eicher, Theo S. & Kawai, Reina, 2023. "IMF trade forecasts for crisis countries: Bias, inefficiency, and their origins," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 1615-1639.
    8. Franses, Ph.H.B.F. & Maassen, N.R., 2015. "Consensus forecasters: How good are they individually and why?," Econometric Institute Research Papers EI2015-21, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics (ESE), Econometric Institute.
    9. Michael Frenkel & Jin-Kyu Jung & Jan-Christoph Rülke, 2017. "Rationalizing the Bias in Central Banks' Interest Rate Projections," WHU Working Paper Series - Economics Group 17-03, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management.
    10. Michael Frenkel & Jin-Kyu Jung & Jan-Christoph Rülke, 2022. "Testing for the rationality of central bank interest rate forecasts," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1037-1078, March.
    11. Daragh Clancy & Lorenzo Ricci, 2022. "Economic sentiments and international risk sharing," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 169, pages 208-229.
    12. Michael P. Clements, 2018. "Do Macroforecasters Herd?," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(2-3), pages 265-292, March.
    13. Lucian Liviu ALBU & Carlos MatéJIMÉNEZ & Mihaela SIMIONESCU, 2015. "The Assessment of Some Macroeconomic Forecasts for Spain using Aggregated Accuracy Indicators," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(2), pages 30-47, June.
    14. Johanna Amberger & Ralf Fendel, 2017. "Understanding inflation dynamics in the Euro Area: deviants and commonalities across member countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(2), pages 261-293, May.
    15. Wojciech Charemza & Carlos Diaz Vela & Svetlana Makarova, 2013. "Inflation fan charts, monetary policy and skew normal distribution," Discussion Papers in Economics 13/06, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    16. Johanna Amberger & Ralf Fendel & Hanno Stremmel, 2017. "Improved output gaps with financial cycle information? An application to G7 countries’ new Keynesian Phillips curves," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 219-228, February.
    17. Mihaela SIMIONESCU, 2014. "Improving The Inflation Rate Forecasts Of Romanian Experts Using A Fixed-Effects Models Approach," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 13, pages 87-102, June.
    18. Michael R Frenkel & Jan C Rülke, 2013. "Is the ECB's monetary benchmark still alive?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(2), pages 1204-1214.
    19. Yoichi Tsuchiya, 2024. "Conservatism and information rigidity of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's growth forecast: Quarter‐century assessment," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(5), pages 1399-1421, August.
    20. Daragh Clancy & Lorenzo Ricci, 2019. "Loss aversion, economic sentiments and international consumption smoothing," Working Papers 35, European Stability Mechanism.
    21. Mihaela Simionescu, 2015. "The Accuracy Analysis of Inflation Rate Forecasts in Euro Area," Global Economic Observer, "Nicolae Titulescu" University of Bucharest, Faculty of Economic Sciences;Institute for World Economy of the Romanian Academy, vol. 3(1), pages 80-85, May.
    22. Simionescu, Mihaela, 2015. "A Comparative Analysis Of Macroeconomic Forecasts Accuracy In Spain And Romania," UTMS Journal of Economics, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje, Macedonia, vol. 6(1), pages 67-74.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Private sector forecasts; Herding; International organizations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E02 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Institutions and the Macroeconomy
    • F17 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Forecasting and Simulation
    • E27 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications

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