In forecasting count processes, practitioners often ignore the discreteness of counts and compute forecasts based on Gaussian approximations instead. For both central and non-central point forecasts, and for various types of count processes, the performance of such approximate point forecasts is analyzed. The considered data-generating processes include different autoregressive schemes with varying model orders, count models with overdispersion or zero inflation, counts with a bounded range, and counts exhibiting trend or seasonality. We conclude that Gaussian forecast approximations should be avoided.

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One of the major motivations for the analysis and modeling of time series data is the forecasting of future outcomes. The use of interval forecasts instead of point forecasts allows us to incorporate the apparent forecast uncertainty. When forecasting count time series, one also has to account for the discreteness of the range, which is done by using coherent prediction intervals (PIs) relying on a count model. We provide a comprehensive performance analysis of coherent PIs for diverse types of count processes. We also compare them to approximate PIs that are computed based on a Gaussian approximation. Our analyses rely on an extensive simulation study. It turns out that the Gaussian approximations do considerably worse than the coherent PIs. Furthermore, special characteristics such as overdispersion, zero inflation, or trend clearly affect the PIs' performance. We conclude by presenting two empirical applications of PIs for count time series: the demand for blood bags in a hospital and the number of company liquidations in Germany.

The marginal distribution of count data processes rarely follows a simple Poisson model in practice. Instead, one commonly observes deviations such as overdispersion or zero inflation. To express the extend of such deviations from a Poisson model, one can compute an appropriately defined dispersion index or zero index. In this article, we develop several tests based on such indexes, including joint tests being based on an index combination. The asymptotic distribution of the resulting test statistics under the null hypothesis of a Poisson INAR(1) model is derived, and the finite-sample performance of the resulting tests is analyzed. Real data examples illustrate the application of these tests in practice. Keywords Discrete data models • Overdispersion • Zero-inflation • Count data time series • Dispersion index • Zero indexes Dedicated to the memory of Bent Jørgensen .

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