The role of economic uncertainty in forecasting exchange rate returns and realized volatility : evidence from quantile predictive regressions

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate whether the news‐based measure of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) can be used to forecast exchange rate returns and volatility using a quantile regression approach, which accounts for persistence and endogeneity, using data from 13 different countries. Our main findings suggest that: (i) EPU is useful for forecasting exchange rate returns and volatility, (ii) forecasting ability–quantile order relationships exhibit a U‐shape, possibly asymmetric form around the median; and (iii) asymmetries are more pronounced in the case of forecasting volatility.