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Predicting Pork Supplies: An Application of Multiple Forecast Encompassing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Dwight R. Sanders
Affiliation:
Department of Agribusiness Economics, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
Mark R. Manfredo
Affiliation:
Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Management, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ

Abstract

Conditional efficiency or forecast encompassing is tested among alternative pork production forecasts using the method proposed by Harvey and Newbold. One-, two-, and three-quarter ahead pork production forecasts made by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the University of Illinois and Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, and those produced by a univariate time series model are evaluated. The encompassing tests provide considerably more information about forecast performance than a simple pair-wise test for equality of mean squared errors. The results suggest that at a one-quarter horizon, the Extension service forecasts encompass the competitors, but at longer horizons, a composite forecast may provide greater accuracy.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2004

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