Forecasting the Spread of the COVID-19 Epidemic in Lombardy: A Dynamic Model Averaging Approach

Forecasting with accuracy the evolution of COVID-19 daily incidence curves is one of the most important exercises in the field of epidemic modeling. We examine the forecastability of daily COVID-19 cases in the Italian region of Lombardy using Dynamic Model Averaging and Dynamic Model Selection methods. To investigate the predictive accuracy of this approach, we compute forecast performance metrics of sequential out-of-sample real-time forecasts in a back-testing exercise ranging from March 1 to December 10 of 2020. We find that (i) Dynamic Model Averaging leads to a consistent and substantial predictive improvements over alternative epidemiological models and machine learning approaches when producing short-run forecasts. Using estimated posterior inclusion probabilities we also provide evidence on which set of predictors are relevant for forecasting in each period. Our findings also suggest that (ii) future incidences can be forecasted by exploiting information on the epidemic dynamics of neighboring regions, human mobility patterns, pollution and temperatures levels.

Forecasting Carbon Emissions with Dynamic Model Averaging Approach: Time-Varying Evidence from China

Although energy-related factors, such as energy intensity and energy consumption, are well recognized as major drivers of carbon dioxide emission in China, little is known about the time-varying impacts of other macrolevel nonenergy factors on carbon emission, especially those from macroeconomic, financial, household, and technology progress indicators in China. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the time-varying predictive ability of 15 macrolevel indicators for China’s carbon dioxide emission from 1982 to 2017 with a dynamic model averaging (DMA) method. The empirical results show that, firstly, the explanatory power of each nonenergy predictor changes significantly with time and no predictor has a stable positive/negative impact on China’s carbon emissions throughout the whole sample period. Secondly, all these predictors present a distinct predictive ability for carbon emission in China. The proportion of industry production in GDP (IP) shows the greatest predictive power, while the proportion of FDI in GDP has the smallest forecasting ability. Interestingly, those Chinese household features, such as Engel’s coefficient and household savings rate, play very important roles in the prediction of China’s carbon emission. In addition, we find that IP are losing its predictive power in recent years, while the proportion of value-added of the service sector in GDP presents not only a leading forecasting weight, but a continuous increasing prediction power in recent years. Finally, the dynamic model averaging (DMA) method can produce the most accurate forecasts of carbon emission in China compared to other commonly used forecasting methods.

Dynamic Model Averaging in Economics and Finance with fDMA: A Package for R

The described R package allows to estimate Dynamic Model Averaging (DMA), Dynamic Model Selection (DMS) and Median Probability Model. The original methods, and additionally, some selected modifications of these methods are implemented. For example the user can choose between recursive moment estimation and exponentially moving average for variance updating in the base DMA. Moreover, inclusion probabilities can be computed in a way using “Google Trends” data. The code is written with respect to minimise the computational burden, which is quite an obstacle for DMA algorithm if numerous variables are used. For example, this package allows for parallel computations and implementation of the Occam’s window approach. However, clarity and readability of the code, and possibility for an R-familiar user to make his or her own small modifications in reasonably small time and with low effort are also taken under consideration. Except that, some alternative (benchmark) forecasts can also be quickly performed within this package. Indeed, this package is designed in a way that is hoped to be especially useful for practitioners and researchers in economics and finance.

Forecasting Interconnections in International Housing Markets: Evidence from the Dynamic Model Averaging Approach

In this paper, I undertake a novel approach to uncover the forecasting interconnections in the international housing markets. Using a dynamic model averaging framework that allows both the coefficients and the entire forecasting model to dynamically change over time, I uncover the intertwined forecasting relationships in 23 leading international housing markets. The evidence suggests significant forecasting interconnections in these markets. However, no country holds a constant forecasting advantage, including the United States and the United Kingdom, although the U.S. housing market's predictive power has increased over time. Evidence also suggests that allowing the forecasting model to change is more important than allowing the coefficients to change over time.