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Applied Statistics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Applied Statistics

Level Adjusted Exponential Smoothing: A Method For Judgmentally Adjusting Exponential Smoothing Models For Planned Discontinuities, Dan Williams, Don Miller Jul 1999

Level Adjusted Exponential Smoothing: A Method For Judgmentally Adjusting Exponential Smoothing Models For Planned Discontinuities, Dan Williams, Don Miller

Publications and Research

Forecasters often make judgmental adjustments to exponential smoothing forecasts to account for the effects of a future planned change. While this approach may produce sound initial forecasts, it can result in diminished accuracy for forecast updates. A proposed technique lets the forecaster include policy change adjustments within an exponential smoothing model. For 20 real data series representing Virginia Medicaid expenses, initial forecasts and forecast updates are developed using the proposed technique and several alternatives, and they are updated through various simulated level shifts. The proposed technique was more accurate than the alternatives in updating forecasts when a shift in level …


Consumption Adjustment Under Time-Varying Income Uncertainty, Douglas Steigerwald, Joon-Ho Hahm Dec 1998

Consumption Adjustment Under Time-Varying Income Uncertainty, Douglas Steigerwald, Joon-Ho Hahm

Douglas G. Steigerwald

We study the effect of income uncertainty on consumption in a model that includes precautionary saving. In contrast to previous studies, we focus on time-series variation in income uncertainty. Our time-series measure of income uncertainty is constructed from a panel of forecasts. We find evidence of precautionary saving in that increases in income uncertainty are related to increases in aggregate rates of saving. We also find evidence that anticipated income growth rates have less explanatory power for consumption growth rates after conditioning on income uncertainty. The evidence indicates the presence of forward-looking consumers who gradually adjust precautionary savings in response …