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Targeting predictors in random forest regression

Author

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  • Borup, Daniel
  • Christensen, Bent Jesper
  • Mühlbach, Nicolaj Søndergaard
  • Nielsen, Mikkel Slot
Abstract
Random forest (RF) regression is an extremely popular tool for analyzing high-dimensional data. Nonetheless, its benefits may be lessened in sparse settings due to weak predictors, and a pre-estimation dimension reduction (targeting) step is required. We show that proper targeting controls the probability of placing splits along strong predictors, thus providing an important complement to RF’s feature sampling. This is supported by simulations using finite representative samples. Moreover, we quantify the immediate gain from targeting in terms of the increased strength of individual trees. Macroeconomic and financial applications show that the bias–variance trade-off implied by targeting, due to increased correlation among trees in the forest, is balanced at a medium degree of targeting, selecting the best 5%–30% of commonly applied predictors. Improvements in the predictive accuracy of targeted RF relative to ordinary RF are considerable, up to 21%, occurring both in recessions and expansions, particularly at long horizons.

Suggested Citation

  • Borup, Daniel & Christensen, Bent Jesper & Mühlbach, Nicolaj Søndergaard & Nielsen, Mikkel Slot, 2023. "Targeting predictors in random forest regression," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 841-868.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfor:v:39:y:2023:i:2:p:841-868
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijforecast.2022.02.010
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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Goulet Coulombe, 2020. "The Macroeconomy as a Random Forest," Papers 2006.12724, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2021.
    2. Goulet Coulombe, Philippe & Leroux, Maxime & Stevanovic, Dalibor & Surprenant, Stéphane, 2021. "Macroeconomic data transformations matter," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1338-1354.
    3. James G. MacKinnon & Morten Ørregaard Nielsen & Matthew D. Webb, 2021. "Wild Bootstrap and Asymptotic Inference With Multiway Clustering," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 505-519, March.
    4. Goller, Daniel & Harrer, Tamara & Lechner, Michael & Wolff, Joachim, 2021. "Active labour market policies for the long-term unemployed: New evidence from causal machine learning," Economics Working Paper Series 2108, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    5. Ricardo P. Masini & Marcelo C. Medeiros & Eduardo F. Mendes, 2023. "Machine learning advances for time series forecasting," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 76-111, February.
    6. Philippe Goulet Coulombe, 2021. "The Macroeconomy as a Random Forest," Working Papers 21-05, Chair in macroeconomics and forecasting, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    7. Daniel Goller & Sandro Heiniger, 2024. "A general framework to quantify the event importance in multi-event contests," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 341(1), pages 71-93, October.
    8. Dahyun Kim & Wanhyun Cho & Inseop Na & Myung Hwan Na, 2024. "Prediction of Live Bulb Weight for Field Vegetables Using Functional Regression Models and Machine Learning Methods," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, May.
    9. Eleni Kalamara & Arthur Turrell & Chris Redl & George Kapetanios & Sujit Kapadia, 2022. "Making text count: Economic forecasting using newspaper text," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(5), pages 896-919, August.
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    11. Clément Cariou & Amélie Charles & Olivier Darné, 2024. "Are national or regional surveys useful for nowcasting regional jobseekers? The case of the French region of Pays‐de‐la‐Loire," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2341-2357, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Random forests; Targeted predictors; High-dimensional forecasting; Weak predictors; Variable selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C53 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Forecasting and Prediction Models; Simulation Methods
    • C55 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Large Data Sets: Modeling and Analysis
    • E17 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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