Survey data can offer timely information on the current state of the economy and its short-term outlook. In this paper, we propose a "Swiss Economic Confidence Index" (SEC). This is a monthly indicator based on aggregating a selection of individual survey indicators, which we show to have...

Die österreichische Bundesregierung hat für den 19. Mai 2021 umfangreiche COVID-19-Öffnungsschritte angekündigt. Diese betreffen unmittelbar tourismusnahe Aktivitäten, den Bereich der Gastronomie sowie den Veranstaltungs- und Kulturbereich. In diesem Bericht wird ein Versuch unternommen,...

We propose a modeling approach involving a series of small-scale dynamic factor models. They are connected to each other within a cluster, whose linkages are derived from Granger-causality tests. This approach merges the benefits of large-scale macroeconomic and small-scale factor models,...

We develop a small-scale dynamic factor model for the Swiss economy allowing for non-linearities by means of a two-state Markov-chain. The selection of an appropriate set of indicators utilizes a combinatorial algorithm. The model's forecasting performance is as good as that of peers with richer...

We develop a small-scale dynamic factor model for the Swiss economy based on an appropriately selected set of indicators. The resulting business cycle factor is in striking accordance with historical Swiss business cycle fluctuations. Our proposed model demonstrates a remarkable performance in...

We propose a methodology for constructing confidence intervals for macroeconomic forecasts that directly incorporate quantitative measures of uncertainty – such as survey-based indicators, stock market volatility, and policy uncertainty. By allowing the width of confidence intervals to vary...