Massive Data Analytics for Macroeconomic Nowcasting

Abstract

Nowcasting macroeconomic aggregates have proved extremely useful for policy-makers or financial investors, in order to get real-time, reliable information to monitor a given economy or sector. Recently, we have witnessed the arrival of new large databases of alternative data, stemming from the Internet, social media, satellites, fixed sensors, or texts. By correctly accounting for those data, especially by using appropriate statistical and econometric approaches, the empirical literature has shown evidence of some gain in nowcasting ability. In this chapter, we propose to review recent advances of the literature on the topic, and we put forward innovative alternative indicators to monitor the Chinese and US economies.

Economic analysis through alternative data and big data techniques: what do they tell about Brazil?

“…Big data machine learning techniques that enable the treatment and analysis of large volumes of data have favored diverse economic analyses through the discovery and application of hitherto unknown sets of indicators (Cheng et al 2021 ). This new set of indicators of great interest for economic analysis was called alternative data.…”