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How useful are historical data for forecasting the long-run equity return distribution?

Author

Listed:
  • John M. Maheu

    (University of Toronto, Canada and The Rimini Centre for Economics Analysis, Rimini, Italy)

  • Thomas H. McCurdy

    (University of Toronto, Canada)

Abstract
We provide an approach to forecasting the long-run (unconditional) distribution of equity returns making optimal use of historical data in the presence of structural breaks. Our focus is on learning about breaks in real time and assessing their impact on out-of-sample density forecasts. Forecasts use a probability-weighted average of submodels, each of which is estimated over a different history of data. The paper illustrates the importance of uncertainty about structural breaks and the value of modeling higher-order moments of excess returns when forecasting the return distribution and its moments. The shape of the long-run distribution and the dynamics of the higher-order moments are quite different from those generated by forecasts which cannot capture structural breaks. The empirical results strongly reject ignoring structural change in favor of our forecasts which weight historical data to accommodate uncertainty about structural breaks. We also strongly reject the common practice of using a fixed-length moving window. These differences in long-run forecasts have implications for many financial decisions, particularly for risk management and long-run investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • John M. Maheu & Thomas H. McCurdy, 2007. "How useful are historical data for forecasting the long-run equity return distribution?," Working Paper series 19_07, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:rim:rimwps:19_07
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    3. Andrew Ang & Allan Timmermann, 2012. "Regime Changes and Financial Markets," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 313-337, October.
    4. Georges Dionne & Olfa Maalaoui Chun, 2013. "Presidential Address: Default and liquidity regimes in the bond market during the 2002–2012 period," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(4), pages 1160-1195, November.
    5. De Angelis Luca & Viroli Cinzia, 2017. "A Markov-switching regression model with non-Gaussian innovations: estimation and testing," Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics & Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 21(2), pages 1-22, April.
    6. Jochmann, Markus & Koop, Gary & Strachan, Rodney W., 2010. "Bayesian forecasting using stochastic search variable selection in a VAR subject to breaks," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 326-347, April.
    7. He, Zhongfang, 2009. "Forecasting output growth by the yield curve: the role of structural breaks," MPRA Paper 28208, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Maheu, John M. & Song, Yong, 2014. "A new structural break model, with an application to Canadian inflation forecasting," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 144-160.
    9. Ida Wolden Bache & James Mitchell & Francesco Ravazzolo & Shaun P. Vahey, 2009. "Macro modelling with many models," Working Paper 2009/15, Norges Bank.
    10. Knut Are Aastveit & James Mitchell & Francesco Ravazzolo & Herman van Dijk, 2018. "The Evolution of Forecast Density Combinations in Economics," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-069/III, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. Yong Song, 2014. "Modelling Regime Switching And Structural Breaks With An Infinite Hidden Markov Model," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 825-842, August.
    12. Huang, Yan & Kou, Gang & Peng, Yi, 2017. "Nonlinear manifold learning for early warnings in financial markets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(2), pages 692-702.
    13. Allan Timmermann, 2018. "Forecasting Methods in Finance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 449-479, November.
    14. Mwasi Paza Mboya & Philipp Sibbertsen, 2023. "Optimal forecasts in the presence of discrete structural breaks under long memory," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(7), pages 1889-1908, November.
    15. Francesco Ravazzolo & Shaun P Vahey, 2010. "Measuring Core Inflation in Australia with Disaggregate Ensembles," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Renée Fry & Callum Jones & Christopher Kent (ed.),Inflation in an Era of Relative Price Shocks, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    16. Jiawen Xu & Pierre Perron, 2023. "Forecasting in the presence of in-sample and out-of-sample breaks," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(6), pages 3001-3035, June.
    17. Daniele Bianchi & Massimo Guidolin & Francesco Ravazzolo, 2017. "Macroeconomic Factors Strike Back: A Bayesian Change-Point Model of Time-Varying Risk Exposures and Premia in the U.S. Cross-Section," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 110-129, January.
    18. Meligkotsidou, Loukia & Tzavalis, Elias & Vrontos, Ioannis, 2017. "On Bayesian analysis and unit root testing for autoregressive models in the presence of multiple structural breaks," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 70-90.
    19. He, Zhongfang & Maheu, John M., 2010. "Real time detection of structural breaks in GARCH models," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 54(11), pages 2628-2640, November.
    20. Jiawen Xu & Pierre Perron, 2015. "Forecasting in the presence of in and out of sample breaks," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series wp2015-012, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    21. Yoontae Jeon & Thomas H. McCurdy, 2017. "Time-Varying Window Length for Correlation Forecasts," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-29, December.
    22. Jiawen Xu & Pierre Perron, 2015. "Forecasting in the presence of in and out of sample breaks," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series wp2015-012, Boston University - Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    density forecasts; structural change; model risk; parameter uncertainty; Bayesian learning; market returns;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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