New Economics Papers
on Computational Economics
Issue of 2013‒10‒11
six papers chosen by



  1. Using the Discrete Model to Derive Optimal Income Tax Rates By Bastani, Spencer
  2. Simulation Results of AgriPoliS about Diminishing Capital Subsidies and Restrictions By Sahrbacher, Christoph; Sahrbacher, Amanda; Ostermeyer, Arlette
  3. The Resilience of the Indian Economy to Rising Oil Prices as a Validation Test for a Global Energy-Environment-Economy CGE Model By Céline Guivarch; Stéphane Hallegatte; Renaud Crassous
  4. Farm/Household-level Simulation Results of Testing Policy and Other Scenarios By Viaggi, Davide; Bartolini, Fabio; Puddu, Marco; Raggi, Meri
  5. Endogenous Structural Change and Climate Targets : Modeling experiments with Imaclim-R By Renaud Crassous; Jean-Charles Hourcade; Olivier Sassi
  6. Long-Term Effects of Diabetes Prevention: Evaluation of the M.O.B.I.L.I.S. Program for Obese Persons By Jan Häußler; Friedrich Breyer

  1. By: Bastani, Spencer (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies)
    Abstract: In this paper I perform numerical simulations of the discrete model of optimal income taxation employing a large number of taxpayer types. Moreover, I indicate how the results depend on the number of types used to represent the wage distribution. Finally, I compare simulations of the continuous and discrete optimal tax models under identical circumstances based on US wage data.
    Keywords: optimal income taxation; simulations; computational methods
    JEL: C63 H21 H24
    Date: 2013–10–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uufswp:2013_011&r=cmp
  2. By: Sahrbacher, Christoph; Sahrbacher, Amanda; Ostermeyer, Arlette
    Abstract: This paper investigates the impacts of high interest rates for borrowed capital and credit restrictions on the structural development of four European regions. The method used is the model AgriPoliS which is a spatial-dynamic agent-based model. It is able to provide aggregated results at the regional level, but very individual results as well by considering farms as independent entities. Farms can choose between different investment options during the simulation. Several scenarios with different interest rates for borrowed capital on the one hand as well as with different levels of credit restrictions on the other hand are tested and compared. Results show that higher interest rates have less impact on declining production branches than on expanding ones. If they have the possibility farms invest in the most profitable production branch which relative profitability might have changed with high interest rates. Credit restrictions lead farms to choose smaller and cheaper investments than expensive and large ones. Results also show that income losses in both cases due to under-investment compared to the reference situation are partially compensated by lower rental prices. The impacts on structural change also differ depending on the region and the initial situation. In summary, credit subsidies or imperfections on credit markets might have indirect impacts on the type of dominant investment and therefore on the whole regional agricultural sector as well.
    Date: 2013–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:167&r=cmp
  3. By: Céline Guivarch (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech); Stéphane Hallegatte (METEO-FRANCE - Météo-France - Météo France); Renaud Crassous (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech)
    Abstract: This paper proposes to test the global hybrid computable general equilibrium model IMACLIM-R against macroeconomic data. To do so, it compares the modeled and observed responses of the Indian economy to the rise of oil price during the 2003-2006 period. The objective is twofold : first, to disentangle the various mechanisms and policies at play in India's economy response to rising oil prices and, second, to validate our model as a tool capable of reproducing short-run statistical data. With default parametrization, the model predicts a significant decrease in the Indian growth rate that is not observed. However, this discrepancy is corrected if three additional mechanisms identified by the International Monetary Fund are introduced, namely the rise in exports of refined oil products, the imbalance of the trade balance allowed by large capital inflows, and the incomplete pass-through of the oil price increase to Indian customers. This work is a first step toward model validation, and provides interesting insights on the modeling methodology relevant to represent an economy's response to a shock, as well as on how short-term mechanisms - and policy action - can smooth the negative impacts of energy price shocks or climate policies.
    Date: 2013–09–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00866431&r=cmp
  4. By: Viaggi, Davide; Bartolini, Fabio; Puddu, Marco; Raggi, Meri
    Abstract: Among the different production factors, land is the one that most often limits farm development and one of the most studied. The connection between policy and other context variables and land markets is at the core of the policy debate, including the present reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The proposal of the latter has been published in October 2011 and in Italy it will include the switch of the payment regime from an historical to a regional basis. The authors’ objective is to simulate the impact of the proposed policy reform on the land market, particularly on land values and propensity to transaction. They combine insights and data from a farm household investment model revised and extended in order to simulate the demand curve for land in different policy scenarios and a survey of farmers stated intention carried out in the province of Bologna (Italy) in 2012. Based on these results, the authors calibrate a mathematical programming model of land market exchanges for the province of Bologna and use this model form simulation. The results of the model largely corroborate the results from the survey and both hint at a relevant reaction of the land demand and supply to the shift from the historical to the regionalised payments. As effect, the regionalisation would result in increased rental prices and in a tendency to the re-allocation of land.
    Date: 2013–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:166&r=cmp
  5. By: Renaud Crassous (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech); Jean-Charles Hourcade (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech); Olivier Sassi (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech)
    Abstract: This paper envisages endogenous technical change as resulting from the interplay between the economic growth engine, consumption, technology and localization patterns. We perform numerical simulations with the recursive dynamic general equilibrium model IMACLIM-R to study how modeling induced technical change affects costs of CO2 stabilization. IMACLIM-R incorporates innovative specifications about final consumption of transportation and energy to represent critical stylized facts such as rebound effects and demand induction by infrastructure and equipments. Doing so brings to light how induced technical change may not only lower stabilization costs thanks to pure technological progress, but also triggers induction of final demand - effects critical to both the level of the carbon tax and the costs of policy given a specific stabilization target. Finally, we study the sensitivity of total stabilization costs to various parameters including both technical assumptions as accelerated turnover of equipments and non-energy choices as alternative infrastructure policies.
    Date: 2013–09–30
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00866411&r=cmp
  6. By: Jan Häußler; Friedrich Breyer
    Abstract: In response to the growing burden of obesity, public primary prevention programs against obesity have been widely recommended. Several studies estimated the cost effects of diabetes prevention trials for different countries and found that diabetes prevention can be costeffective. Nevertheless, it is still controversial if prevention conducted in more real-world settings and among people with increased risk but not yet exhibiting Increased Glucose Tolerance can really be a cost-effective strategy to cope with the obesity epidemic. We examine this question in a simulation model based on the results of the M.O.B.I.L.I.S program, a German lifestyle intervention to reduce obesity, which is directed on the high-risk group of people who are already obese. The contribution of this paper is the use of 4-year follow-up data on the intervention group and a comparison with a control group formed by SOEP respondents as inputs in a Markov model of the long-term benefits of this intervention due to prevention of type-2 diabetes.
    Keywords: Diabetes prevention, cost-benefit analysis, Markov modeling
    JEL: I12 H51
    Date: 2013
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1329&r=cmp

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