Do Macroeconomic Shocks Affect Intuitive Inflation Forecasting? An Experimental Investigation

Marvin Deversi

No 528, Ruhr Economic Papers from RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen

Abstract: In an experimental setting impulse-response behaviour in intuitive inflation forecasting is analysed. Participants were asked to forecast future values of inflation for a fictitious economy after receiving charts and lists of past values of inflation and output gap. Thirty periods were forecasted stepwise and feedback on performance was provided after each period. In a between subjects design, participants experienced a negative or positive supply shock. The results suggest that participants barely report rational forecasts. Instead, simple backward-looking rules describe stated forecast series. Forecasting is heterogeneous across agents and over time. Before the shock, most participants can be described by natural expectations. Due to the shocks 69% of participants are found to switch their forecasting rule. After the negative supply shock, subjects increase efficiency of forecasts. But, after a positive supply shock efficiency drops down to zero; this is evidence for a negativity bias. As a main result, macroeconomic shocks do alter the way experimental participants form intuitive inflation forecasts, however, to what extent depends on the shocks' characteristics.

Keywords: macroeconomic experiment; inflation expectations; intuitive forecasting; shocks; heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D84 E03 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-for
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:rwirep:528

DOI: 10.4419/86788604

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