Forecasting: theory and practice
Creators: name: Petropoulos, Fotios
name: Apiletti, Daniele
name: Assimakopoulos, Vassilios
name: Babai, Mohamed Zied
name: Barrow, Devon K.
name: Taieb, Souhaib Ben
name: Bergmeir, Christoph
name: Bessa, Ricardo J.
name: Bijak, Jakub
name: Boylan, John E.
name: Browell, Jethro
name: Carnevale, Claudio
name: Castle, Jennifer L.
name: Cirillo, Pasquale
name: Clements, Michael P.
name: Cordeiro, Clara
name: Oliveira, Fernando Luiz Cyrino
name: De Baets, Shari
name: Dokumentov, Alexander
name: Ellison, Joanne
name: Fiszeder, Piotr
name: Franses, Philip Hans
name: Frazier, David T.
name: Gilliland, Michael
name: Gönül, M. Sinan
name: Goodwin, Paul
name: Grossi, Luigi
name: Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
name: Guidolin, Mariangela
name: Guidolin, Massimo
name: Gunter, Ulrich
name: Guo, Xiaojia
name: Guseo, Renato
name: Harvey, Nigel
name: Hendry, David F.
name: Hollyman, Ross
name: Januschowski, Tim
name: Jeon, Jooyoung
name: Jose, Victor Richmond R.
name: Kang, Yanfei
name: Koehler, Anne B.
name: Kolassa, Stephan
name: Kourentzes, Nikolaos
name: Leva, Sonia
name: Li, Feng
name: Litsiou, Konstantia
name: Makridakis, Spyros
name: Martin, Gael M.
name: Martinez, Andrew B.
name: Meeran, Sheik
name: Modis, Theodore
name: Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos
name: Önkal, Dilek
name: Paccagnini, Alessia
name: Panagiotelis, Anastasios
name: Panapakidis, Ioannis
name: Pavía, Jose M.
name: Pedio, Manuela
name: Pedregal, Diego J.
name: Pinson, Pierre
name: Ramos, Patrícia
name: Rapach, David E.
name: Reade, J. James
name: Rostami-Tabar, Bahman
name: Rubaszek, Michał
name: Sermpinis, Georgios
name: Shang, Han Lin
name: Spiliotis, Evangelos
name: Syntetos, Aris A.
name: Talagala, Priyanga Dilini
name: Talagala, Thiyanga S.
name: Tashman, Len
name: Thomakos, Dimitrios
name: Thorarinsdottir, Thordis
name: Todini, Ezio
name: Arenas, Juan Ramón Trapero
name: Wang, Xiaoqian
name: Winkler, Robert L.
name: Yusupova, Alisa
name: Ziel, Florian
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Applications (stat.AP)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Econometrics (econ.EM)
subject: Machine Learning (stat.ML)
subject: Other Statistics (stat.OT)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Economics and business
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: Forecasting has always been at the forefront of decision making and planning. The uncertainty that surrounds the future is both exciting and challenging, with individuals and organisations seeking to minimise risks and maximise utilities. The large number of forecasting applications calls for a diverse set of forecasting methods to tackle real-life challenges. This article provides a non-systematic review of the theory and the practice of forecasting. We provide an overview of a wide range of theoretical, state-of-the-art models, methods, principles, and approaches to prepare, produce, organise, and evaluate forecasts. We then demonstrate how such theoretical concepts are applied in a variety of real-life contexts. We do not claim that this review is an exhaustive list of methods and applications. However, we wish that our encyclopedic presentation will offer a point of reference for the rich work that has been undertaken over the last decades, with some key insights for the future of forecasting theory and practice. Given its encyclopedic nature, the intended mode of reading is non-linear. We offer cross-references to allow the readers to navigate through the various topics. We complement the theoretical concepts and applications covered by large lists of free or open-source software implementations and publicly-available databases.