Article | Finance area | Year 2017
 

Model Uncertainty and Exchange Rate Forecasting

by Roy Kouwenberg; Agnieszka Markiewicz; Ralph Verhoeks; Remco C J Zwinkels
  
  Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 52(1), p.341-363 February

Abstract

Exchange rate models with uncertain and incomplete information predict that investors focus on a small set of fundamentals that changes frequently over time. We design a model selection rule that captures the current set of fundamentals that best predicts the exchange rate. Out-of-sample tests show that the forecasts made by this rule significantly beat a random walk for 5 out of 10 currencies. Furthermore, the currency forecasts generate meaningful investment profits. We demonstrate that the strong performance of the model selection rule is driven by time-varying weights attached to a small set of fundamentals, in line with theory. © 2017 Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington.