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Why you should never use the Hodrick-Prescott Filter: Comment

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  • Alban Moura

Abstract

Hamilton (2018) argues that one should never use the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter, given its drawbacks and the existence of a better alternative. This comment shows that the main drawback Hamilton finds in the HP filter, the presence of filter-induced dynamics in the estimate of the cyclical component, is also a key feature of the alternative filter proposed by Hamilton. As with the HP filter, the Hamilton filter applied to a random walk extracts a cyclical component that is highly predictable, that can predict other variables, and whose properties reflect as much the filter as the underlying data-generating process. In addition, the Hamilton trend lags the data by construction and there is some arbitrariness in the choice of a key parameter defining the filter. Therefore, a more balanced assessment is that the HP and Hamilton filters provide different ways to look at the data, with neither being clearly superior from a practical perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Alban Moura, 2022. "Why you should never use the Hodrick-Prescott Filter: Comment," BCL working papers 162, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcl:bclwop:bclwp162
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    HP filter; Hamilton filter; business cycles; detrending; filtering.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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