The Bayesian Estimation, Analysis and Regression toolbox (BEAR) is a comprehensive (Bayesian Panel) VAR toolbox for forecasting and policy analysis.
BEAR is a MATLAB based toolbox which is easy for non-technical users to understand, augment and adapt. In particular, BEAR includes a user-friendly graphical interface which allows the tool to be used by country desk economists.
Furthermore, BEAR is well documented, both within the code as well as including a detailed theoretical and user’s guide. BEAR includes state-of-the art applications such as sign and magnitude restrictions, conditional forecasts, Bayesian forecast evaluation measures, Bayesian Panel VAR using different prior distributions (for example hierarchical priors), etc.
BEAR is specifically developed for transparently supplying a tool for state-of-the-art research and is planned to be further developed to always be at the frontier of economic research.
Version 5 of the Bear toolbox is available on Github
<aside> 👉 Giorgio E Primiceri, Professor Northwestern. BEAR is an invaluable, user-friendly toolbox for the Bayesian estimation of state-of-the-art multivariate time-series models. Not only it is accessible to less-technical users, but also extremely useful to more advanced researchers.
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<aside> 👉 Gary Koop, Professor University Strathclyde Bayesian VAR analysis is made easy using the BEAR toolbox. It is a powerful tool for academics, central bankers and policymakers.
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<aside> 👉 Fabio Canova, Professor Norwegian Business School A toolbox built by policymakers for policymakers. A must!
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