lag

Payment of a financial obligation later than is expected or required, as in lead and lag. Also, the number of periods that an dependent variable in a regression model is "held back" in order to predict the dependent variable. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary

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▪ I. lag lag ¹ [læg] verb lagged _PTandPPX lagging _PRESPARTX [intransitive]

1. COMMERCE to move, develop, or improve more slowly than others:

• The sales team are lagging in their progress towards this quarter's performance goals.

lag behind

• US firms lag behind nations such as Germany in training their staff.

2. ECONOMICS to change in amount or level at a later time than something else:

• Even after the economy begins growing, hiring new employees tends to lag.

• The increase in wages lagged behind the increase in prices through much of the decade.

3. FINANCE if prices of shares, traded goods, etc lag, they do not increase:

• While silver has lagged, it hasn't been as weak as platinum.

  [m0] ▪ II. lag lag ² noun [countable]

1. a delay in a change or improvement in something:

• More problematic over the long term is a lag in attitudes. The country was the least reform-minded in Eastern Europe.

2. ECONOMICS a period of time that passes before an amount or level changes:

• There's usually a lag between an upturn in manufacturing activity and increased shipments of factory machinery.

• When taxes drop, the Massachusetts economy typically responds after a short lag, which used to be three years and now is half that.

ˈtime lag

a delay between an event and another event that is caused by it or connected with it:

• There is a considerable time lag between orders and shipments.

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Ⅰ.

lag UK US /læg/ verb (-gg-)

► [I or T] to not make as much progress as other people or things: lag behind sb/sth »

Business leaders in the UK still lag behind their European counterparts in foreign language skills.

lag well/far behind »

As usual we lag far behind the rest of the world in this matter.

»

They continue to lag their competitors in most areas of the business.

► [I] to move or make progress more slowly than usual, or to change later than something else changes: »

Business had improved considerably after lagging last year.

»

There has been an upturn in business travel, but hotel prices are still lagging.

Ⅱ.

lag UK US /læg/ noun [C]

► a delay between two things happening: »

This can mean a lag during construction projects.

»

Sometimes there would be long lag times between responses.

→ See also TIME LAG(Cf. ↑time lag)