Forecasting UK consumer price inflation using inflation forecasts

The inflation rate is a key economic indicator for which forecasters are constantly seeking to improve the accuracy of predictions, so as to enable better macroeconomic decision making. Presented in this paper is a novel approach which seeks to exploit auxiliary information contained within inflation forecasts for developing a new and improved forecast for inflation by modeling with Multivariate Singular Spectrum Analysis (MSSA). Unlike other forecast combination techniques, the key feature of the proposed approach is its use of forecasts, i.e. data into the future, within the modeling process and extracting auxiliary information for generating a new and improved forecast. We consider real data on consumer price inflation in UK, obtained via the Office for National Statistics. A variety of parametric and nonparametric models are then used to generate univariate forecasts of inflation. Thereafter, the best univariate forecast is considered as auxiliary information within the MSSA model alongside historical data for UK consumer price inflation, and a new multivariate forecast is generated. We find compelling evidence which shows the benefits of the proposed approach at generating more accurate medium to long term inflation forecasts for UK in relation to the competing models. Finally, through the discussion, we also consider Google Trends forecasts for inflation within the proposed framework.     

ALTERNATIVE WEIGHTING APPROACHES TO COMPUTING INDEXES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

This paper compares the weighting schemes in the traditional, principal component and dynamic factor approaches to summarizing information from a number of component variables. To facilitate the comparison, we propose a framework to discuss the approaches with respect to their implied loadings in a latent variable model. We also propose a way to transform the dynamic factor index into an analogous index which is a weighted average of the components. The framework shows the strengths and weakness of the alternative weighting schemes and the sense in which the dynamic factor approach has the advantage of capturing both the significance and the variability of the components.     

Approaches to performance measurement in hedonic analysis: Price indexes for laptop computers in the 1990's

This paper estimates price indexes for laptop personal computers using hedonic methods and data taken from PC Magazine technical reviews. We use benchmark test results to construct a measure of system performance that encapsulates factors that have previously gone unmeasured, such as the interactions between hardware components. The resulting hedonic function is parsimonious yet has good explanatory power. A second approach to performance measurement is developed using a set of technical proxies that are shown to closely approximate the benchmark test scores, and are thus nearly perfectly equivalent in terms of resulting price index estimates. While not as parsimonious as a single performance measure, these proxies have the advantage of not requiring direct performance testing, and could thus be applied to larger data sets. Laptops were found to have declined in quality-adjusted price at an average rate of 40% per year for the period 1990-1998.     

Stochastic model specification search for Gaussian and partial non-Gaussian state space models

Model specification for state space models is a difficult task as one has to decide which components to include in the model and to specify whether these components are fixed or time-varying. To this aim a new model space MCMC method is developed in this paper. It is based on extending the Bayesian variable selection approach which is usually applied to variable selection in regression models to state space models. For non-Gaussian state space models stochastic model search MCMC makes use of auxiliary mixture sampling. We focus on structural time series models including seasonal components, trend or intervention. The method is applied to various well-known time series.     

北京与国际城市的比较研究

21世纪初,北京提出建设国际化国际上大都市的战略目标,到2010年基本建立起国际化大都市的框架.为了评价北京国际化程度,论文选取了人口、经济、公共交通、航空运力和国际组织等几个主要指标,选择了国际上公认的国际城市纽约、东京、伦敦、巴黎、新加坡和香港等与北京进行比较,量化北京与国际城市的距离,提出加快国际化步伐的具体措施.     

全球化背景下中国人才流失的环境因素——基于全球58国的比较分析

在经济全球化背景下,发展中国家人才流失问题突出。中国同样面临着这个问题的严峻考验。本文从考察人才流失的环境角度进行分析,建立了人才环境三级指标体系并计算出生活环境指数、工作环境指数和宏观环境指数。通过建立回归方程,我们发现人才流失和环境指数有很强的相关关系,说明改善人才环境能很好解决当前人才流失问题。文章最后根据我国实际情况,给出了相关的政策建议。     

制药企业选择CRO的指标分析

本文提出了制药企业选择CRO的指标,并简述了指标权重确定的步骤,为制药企业选择CRO提供指标上的参考。     

上市公司股权分置改革方案选择的理性思辨

文章以股权分置改革方案获得通过的45家试点上市公司为样本,分析了其股权分置改革方案的现实选择特性:80%的试点公司采用纯送股方案.通过分析6种股权分置改革方案的实施对上市公司相关财务比率和理财目标函数的影响,得出上市公司股权分置改革方案选择的理性思路:尽可能选择缩股型方案.对比上市公司股权分置改革方案的现实选择特性和理性选择思路,说明其股权分置改革方案的选择具有一定的非理性成分.     

中国经济的包容性增长:测量与评价

本文首先对包容性增长的基本内涵进行了综述,在此基础上,构建了一套由4个维度、7个领域、13个指标组成的包容性增长指数;然后对评价指标赋权重,形成了一套包容性增长的综合评价指标体系;最后,运用该指标体系对1990-2009年中国的包容性增长进行了测量,并根据测量结果提出了建议。评价结果发现,中国经济增长总体上呈现包容性趋势,经济增长迅速并且带来了就业增长,提高了人的基本能力和基础社会保障水平,但是中国包容性增长整体水平比较低,并且发展缓慢,收入不平等越来越显著,成为中国实现经济包容性增长的巨大障碍。因此,应该从实现机会平等角度设计政策,追求经济增长的包容性。