IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/empeco/v27y2002i4p631-643.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Hodrick-Prescott `forecasts' rational?

Author

Listed:
  • J. Z. Easaw

    (Department of Economics, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, England)

  • S. M. Heravi

    (Cardiff Business School, University of Wales, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF1 3EU.)

  • J. C. K. Ash

    (Department of Economics, University of Reading, PO Box 218, Whiteknights, Reading, Berks, RG6 6AA, England.)

  • D. J. Smyth

    (Economics Group, Middlesex University Business School, The Burroughs, Hendon, London NW4 4BT, England.)

Abstract

We evaluate the usefulness of the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter as a proxy for rational expectations, using long runs of annual US inflation data. Our conclusion is that while the HP series are not fully rational in the sense of Muth (1961), they do generally meet the criterion of `weak rationality' recently proposed by Grant and Thomas (1999). They are also rational proxy predictors of direction for, following Merton (1981), agents would not change their prior in the opposite direction to these `forecasts'. However, smoother HP `forecasts' are more prone to inefficiency and less useful predictors of direction.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Z. Easaw & S. M. Heravi & J. C. K. Ash & D. J. Smyth, 2002. "Are Hodrick-Prescott `forecasts' rational?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 631-643.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:27:y:2002:i:4:p:631-643
    Note: Received: May 2000/Final Version Received: May 2001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00181/papers/2027004/20270631.pdf
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aliyu, Shehu Usman Rano, 2011. "Reactions of stock market to monetary policy shocks during the global financial crisis: the Nigerian case," MPRA Paper 35581, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Dec 2011.
    2. Aliyu, Shehu Usman Rano, 2020. "What have we learnt from modelling stock returns in Nigeria: Higgledy-piggledy?," MPRA Paper 110382, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Jun 2021.
    3. Masahiro Ashiya, 2006. "Are 16-month-ahead forecasts useful? A directional analysis of Japanese GDP forecasts," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(3), pages 201-207.
    4. Bampinas, Georgios & Panagiotidis, Theodore, 2015. "Are gold and silver a hedge against inflation? A two century perspective," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 267-276.
    5. Marvasti, Akbar, 2013. "The role of price expectations and legal uncertainties in ocean mineral, exploration activities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 68-74.
    6. Ching-Chih Chang & Chin-Yuan Hsieh & Yung-Chih Lin, 2012. "A predictive model of the freight rate of the international market in Capesize dry bulk carriers," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 313-317, March.
    7. Benner, Joachim & Gern, Klaus-Jürgen & Kamps, Annette & Oskamp, Frank & Sander, Birgit & Scheide, Joachim & Schweickert, Rainer, 2005. "Robuste Weltkonjunktur," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 3722, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    8. Kosei Fukuda, 2010. "Three new empirical perspectives on the Hodrick–Prescott parameter," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 713-731, December.
    9. Tsuchiya, Yoichi, 2016. "Directional analysis of fiscal sustainability: Revisiting Domar's debt sustainability condition," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 189-201.
    10. Charles O. Manasseh & Nnah M. Iroha & Kingsley I. Okere & Ifeoma C. Nwakoby & Ogochukwu C. Okanya & Nnenna Nwonye & Onuselogu Odidi & Oliver I. Inyiama, 2022. "Application of Markov chain to share price movement in Nigeria (1985–2019)," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Benner, Joachim & Gern, Klaus-Jürgen & Kamps, Annette & Oskamp, Frank & Sander, Birgit & Scheide, Joachim & Schweickert, Rainer, 2005. "Geringere Dynamik der Weltkonjunktur," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 3490, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hodrick-Prescott filter; Rational expectations; Proxy forecasts; Inflation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • E37 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:27:y:2002:i:4:p:631-643. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.