A SMOOTHING METHOD THAT LOOKS LIKE THE HODRICK–PRESCOTT FILTER

Abstract

In recent decades, in the research community of macroeconometric time series analysis, we have observed growing interest in the smoothing method known as the Hodrick–Prescott (HP) filter. This article examines the properties of an alternative smoothing method that looks like the HP filter, but is much less well known. We show that this is actually more like the exponential smoothing filter than the HP filter although it is obtainable through a slight modification of the HP filter. In addition, we also show that it is also like the low-frequency projection of Müller and Watson (2018, Econometrica 86, 775–804). We point out that these results derive from the fact that all three similar smoothing methods can be regarded as a type of graph spectral filter whose graph Fourier transform is discrete cosine transform. We then theoretically reveal the relationship between the similar smoothing methods and provide a way of specifying the smoothing parameter that is necessary for its application. An empirical examination illustrates the results.