An investigation of neural networks for linear time-series forecasting

This study examines the capability of neural networks for linear time-series forecasting. Using both simulated and real data, the effects of neural network factors such as the number of input nodes and the number of hidden nodes as well as the training sample size are investigated. Results show that neural networks are quite competent in modeling and forecasting linear time series in a variety of situations and simple neural network structures are often effective in modeling and forecasting linear time series.Scope and purposeNeural network capability for nonlinear modeling and forecasting has been established in the literature both theoretically and empirically. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of neural networks for linear time-series analysis and forecasting. Several research studies on neural network capability for linear problems in regression and classification have yielded mixed findings. This study aims to provide further evidence on the effectiveness of neural network with regard to linear time-series forecasting. The significance of the study is that it is often difficult in reality to determine whether the underlying data generating process is linear or nonlinear. If neural networks can compete with traditional forecasting models for linear data with noise, they can be used in even broader situations for forecasting researchers and practitioners.