We utilise prior information from a simple RBC model to improve ARMA forecasts of post-war US GDP. We develop three alternative ARMA forecasting processes that use varying degrees of information from the Campbell (1994) flexible labour model. Directly calibrating the model produces poor...

Stock and Watson (1999) show that the Phillips curve is a good forecasting tool in the United States. We assess whether this good performance extends to two small open economies, with relatively large tradable sectors. Using data for Australia and New Zealand, we find that the open economy...

We analyse a large Bayesian Vector Autoregression (BVAR) containing almost one hundred New Zealand macroeconomic time series. Methods for allowing multiple blocks of equations with block-specific Bayesian priors are described, and forecasting results show that our model compares favourably to a...

This paper introduces a new indicator of core inflation for New Zealand, estimated using a dynamic factor model and disaggregate consumer price data. Using disaggregate consumer price data we can directly compare the predictive performance of our core indicator with a wide range of other ‘core...

Conventional productivity growth decompositions, such as those of Baily, Bartelsman and Haltiwanger (2001) and Grilliches and Regev (1995), first aggregate each firm's productivity level into an aggregate productivity index, and then allocate aggregate growth back to the firms forming the...

We describe a simple extension of the Monacelli (2005) small open economy model that incorporates a non-tradable good, habit persistence and price indexation. The empirical fit of eight different specifications of this model is then tested in a Bayesian framework using data for three small open...

This paper outlines a simple approach for incorporating extraneous predictions into structural models. The method allows the forecaster to combine predictions derived from any source in a way that is consistent with the underlying structure of the model. The method is flexible enough that...

Monetary conditions indices featured prominently as instrument variables or operating targets, particularly in the inflation-targeting countries during the 1990s. In this paper, we show that conventional monetary conditions indices are potentially mis-specified. Under a regime of strict...