This paper establishes the conditions for the existence of a stationary solution to the first-order autoregressive equation on a plane as well as properties of the stationary solution. The first-order autoregressive model on a plane is defined by the equation
A stationary solution X to the equation exists if and only if $(1-a-b-c)(1-a+b+c)(1+a-b+c)(1+a+b-c)\gt 0$. The stationary solution X satisfies the causality condition with respect to the white noise ϵ if and only if $1-a-b-c\gt 0$, $1-a+b+c\gt 0$, $1+a-b+c\gt 0$ and $1+a+b-c\gt 0$. A sufficient condition for X to be purely nondeterministic is provided.
An explicit expression for the autocovariance function of X on the axes is provided. With Yule–Walker equations, this facilitates the computation of the autocovariance function everywhere, at all integer points of the plane. In addition, all situations are described where different parameters determine the same autocovariance function of X.
This work is the first part of a project dealing with an in-depth study of effective techniques used in econometrics in order to make accurate forecasts in the concrete framework of one of the major economies of the most productive Italian area, namely the province of Verona. In particular, we develop an approach mainly based on vector autoregressions, where lagged values of two or more variables are considered, Granger causality, and the stochastic trend approach useful to work with the cointegration phenomenon. Latter techniques constitute the core of the present paper, whereas in the second part of the project, we present how these approaches can be applied to economic data at our disposal in order to obtain concrete analysis of import–export behavior for the considered productive area of Verona.