Open AccessThe Advantages of Probabilistic Survey Questions
Author(s) -
Simon Potter,
Marco Del Negro,
Giorgio Topa,
Wilbert van der Klaauw
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
review of economic analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.101
H-Index - 1
ISSN - 1973-3909
DOI - 10.15353/rea.v9i1.1433
Subject(s) - probabilistic logic , inflation (cosmology) , survey data collection , economics , value (mathematics) , actuarial science , marketing , survey methodology , business , computer science , statistics , physics , mathematics , artificial intelligence , machine learning , theoretical physics
In monetary policymaking, central bankers have long pointed out the importance of measuring the expectations of financial market participants, households, and firms —especially with regard to inflation and the central bank’s so-called “reaction function” to changes in the economic outlook. In addition to model- and market-implied measures, there has been a growing interest in and reliance on survey-based measures of subjective expectations. This article describes two major innovative survey initiatives conducted by the New York Fed to measure policy-relevant expectations of households and market participants: the Survey of Consumer Expectations, and the Survey of Primary Dealers and Survey of Market Participants. A key feature of these surveys is its use of a probabilistic question format to elicit the likelihood respondents assign to different future events. We discuss the advantages of using probabilistic questions, illustrate their value in more fully measuring beliefs and uncertainty, and document the pervasiveness and importance of heterogeneity in beliefs among our survey respondents.