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Misspecification-Robust Shrinkage and Selection for VAR Forecasts and IRFs

Oriol González-Casasús, Frank Schorfheide

arXiv 6 Feb 2025 · Econometrics · 1 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2502.03693 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

VARs are often estimated with Bayesian techniques to cope with model dimensionality. The posterior means define a class of shrinkage estimators, indexed by hyperparameters that determine the relative weight on maximum likelihood estimates and prior means. In a Bayesian setting, it is natural to choose these hyperparameters by maximizing the marginal data density. However, this is undesirable if the VAR is misspecified. In this paper, we derive asymptotically unbiased estimates of the multi-step forecasting risk and the impulse response estimation risk to determine hyperparameters in settings where the VAR is (potentially) misspecified. The proposed criteria can be used to jointly select the optimal shrinkage hyperparameter, VAR lag length, and to choose among different types of multi-step-ahead predictors; or among IRF estimates based on VARs and local projections. The selection approach is illustrated in a Monte Carlo study and an empirical application.

Citation extraction

37
references
49
in-text mentions
37
distinct cited
2
self-citations
25,932
main-text words

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Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1Marcellino, Stock, and Watson (2006) A Comparison of Direct and Iterated Multistep AR Methods for Forecasting Macroeconomic Time Series0.92843100%
2Schorfheide (2005) VAR Forecasting Under Misspecification self0.81142100%
3Shibata (1980) Asymptotically Efficient Selection of the Order of the Model for Estimating Parameters of a Linear Process0.81142100%
4Ludwig (2024) Local Projections are VAR Predictions of Different Order0.64422100%
5Montiel Olea and Plagborg-Mller (2021) Local Projection Inference is Easier Than You Think0.64422100%
6Giannone, Lenza, and Primiceri (2015) Prior Selection for Vector Autoregressions0.51121100%
7Baillie (1979) Asymptotic Prediction Mean Squared Error for Vector Autoregressive Models0.40511100%
8Bhansali (1996) Asymptotically Efficient Autoregressive Model Selection for Multistep Prediction0.40511100%
9Bhansali (1997) Direct Autoregressive Predictors for Multistep Prediction: Order Selection and Performance Relative to the Plug In Predictors0.40511100%
10Billingsley (1968) Probability and Measure0.40511100%

Showing the top 10 of 37 scored citations.

Cited by, within the corpus

arXiv econ.EM papers that cite this one, ranked by how heavily they lean on it.

Citing paperIntensityMentionsSections
1Double Robustness of Local Projections and Some Unpleasant VARithmetic0.64422
2Targeted Local Projections0.40511