A Note on the Finite Sample Bias in Time Series Cross-Validation

Amaze Lusompa

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arXiv · 2512.05900

A Note on the Finite Sample Bias in Time Series Cross-Validation

Amaze Lusompa

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Abstract

It is well known that model selection via cross validation can be biased for time series models. However, many researchers have argued that this bias does not apply when using cross-validation with vector autoregressions (VAR) or with time series models whose errors follow a martingale-like structure. I show that even under these circumstances, performing cross-validation on time series data will still generate bias in general.

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Amaze Lusompa. 2025-12-05. A Note on the Finite Sample Bias in Time Series Cross-Validation. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05900

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