Small Sample Properties of Quarterly Forecast Errors.

There are two basic approaches used in the comparative evaluation of forecasters: (1) Statistical tests of significance of differences in error measures, (2) Ordinal rankings of forecasters. To use the first approach of statistical tests, the forecast error data must satisfy the assumptions underlying those tests. This paper examines the validity of those assumptions by enquiring into the small sample properties of the forecast error data of quarterly forecasts of the U.S. economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]