Narrow Money Demand in Indonesia and in Other Transitional Economies – Model Selection and Forecasting

Purpose: This paper aims to incorporate model uncertainty in variable selection and forecasting in the monetarist money demand model and check whether the emerging economies such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, India, Republic of South Africa, and Indonesia follow this model in the long-run. The case of the United Kingdom serves as a benchmark for the study. Design/Methodology/Approach: In dynamic econometric modeling, the number of potential explanatory variables increases rapidly, and model uncertainty grows very fast. Consequently, empirical modeling of money demand needs a comprehensive strategy for model selection and forecasting. We use Bayesian averaging of classical estimates (BACE) as an appropriate model reduction strategy. The monetary model serves as the theoretical basis for empirical equilibrium error-correction models (EqCM) and employing the Bayesian averaging of classical estimates (BACE) approach for variable and model selection and forecasting. Findings: Four theoretical and competitive model specifications are proposed and empirically tested. We found that monetary systems in Indonesia and other analyzed economies are both stable and theory consistent. The forecasts generated for Indonesia are accurate. The robustness of the model selection based on the BACE procedure was strongly confirmed. Practical Implications: The proposed procedure is valid for practical application, particularly in dynamic model selection and forecasting. Originality/Value: The novelty of this research lies in employing the BACE approach to model the demand for money with the equilibrium error correction (EqCM) mechanism.