Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Papers,
National Institute of Economic Research

No 136: A Statistical Analysis of Revisions of Swedish National Accounts Data

Caroline Flodberg () and Pär Österholm ()
Additional contact information
Caroline Flodberg: National Institute of Economic Research, Postal: National Institute of Economic Research, P.O. Box 3116, SE-103 62 Stockholm, Sweden
Pär Österholm: National Institute of Economic Research, Postal: National Institute of Economic Research, P.O. Box 3116, SE-103 62 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: In this paper, we study revisions of Swedish national accounts data. Three aspects of the revisions are considered: volatility, unbiasedness and forecast efficiency. Our results indicate that the properties of the revisions are more problematic for the production side than for the expenditure side. The high volatility of the revisions on the production side indicates that it, based on the initial data release, generally is difficult to make clear cut statements concerning production in different industries within the business sector; it is also likely to make forecasting more difficult. Concerning unbiasedness, there appears to be shortcomings for a number of variables, including GDP; this finding implies that it could be possible to improve the production of the Swedish national accounts data.

Keywords: Real-time data; Volatility; Unbiasedness; Forecast efficiency

JEL-codes: E01

34 pages, February 4, 2015

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