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Non-linear Phillips Curve for India: Evidence from Explainable Machine Learning

Shovon Sengupta, Bhanu Pratap, Amit Pawar

arXiv 6 Apr 2025 · Econometrics · publishedComputational Economics (2025) · 1 citations (OpenAlex)

arXiv:2504.05350 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

The conventional linear Phillips curve model, while widely used in policymaking, often struggles to deliver accurate forecasts in the presence of structural breaks and inherent nonlinearities. This paper addresses these limitations by leveraging machine learning methods within a New Keynesian Phillips Curve framework to forecast and explain headline inflation in India, a major emerging economy. Our analysis demonstrates that machine learning-based approaches significantly outperform standard linear models in forecasting accuracy. Moreover, by employing explainable machine learning techniques, we reveal that the Phillips curve relationship in India is highly nonlinear, characterized by thresholds and interaction effects among key variables. Headline inflation is primarily driven by inflation expectations, followed by past inflation and the output gap, while supply shocks, except rainfall, exert only a marginal influence. These findings highlight the ability of machine learning models to improve forecast accuracy and uncover complex, nonlinear dynamics in inflation data, offering valuable insights for policymakers.

Citation extraction

92
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appendix boundary found by appendix_titled_section at “Appendix A” · 88% of the source is main text. Read the extracted text to check this.

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
1Lundberg SM, Lee SI (2017) A Unified Approach to Interpreting Model Predictions0.84333100%
2Shapley L (1953) A value for n-person games0.84333100%
3Štrumbelj E, Kononenko I (2010) An efficient explanation of individual classifications using game theory0.84333100%
4Bicchal M, Durai SR (2019) Rationality of inflation expectations: an interpretation of Google Trends data0.7374350%
5Joseph A (2019) Parametric inference with universal function approximators0.73732100%
6Sengupta S, Chakraborty T, Singh SK (2024) Forecasting CPI inflation under economic policy and geopolitical uncertainties0.73732100%
7Friedman JH (2001) Greedy function approximation: A gradient boosting machine0.64422100%
8Gali J, Gertler M (1999) Inflation dynamics: A structural econometric analysis0.64422100%
9Phillips AW (1958) The relation between unemployment and the rate of change of money wage rates in the United Kingdom, 1861-19570.64422100%
10Taylor JB (1980) Aggregate dynamics and staggered contracts0.64422100%

Showing the top 10 of 92 scored citations.