Structural forecast analysis
Abstract This paper shows how the structural representation of a vector autoregressive model can support forecast analysis. We offer a unified framework that formalizes how the structural form of the model can help form a narrative for two key statistics in real-time VAR forecasting: the forecast errors at the outturn of the data, and the consequent revisions of the forecast. We conduct an exercise on the UK, focusing on the inflation surge that started in 2022. We show that…