Accuracy, Speed and Robustness of Policy Function Iteration

Todd Walker, Alexander Richter and Nathaniel Throckmorton

No auwp2014-08, Auburn Economics Working Paper Series from Department of Economics, Auburn University

Abstract: Policy function iteration methods for solving and analyzing dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models are powerful from a theoretical and computational perspective. Despite obvious theoretical appeal, significant startup costs and a reliance on grid-based methods have limited the use of policy function iteration as a solution algorithm. We reduce these costs by providing a user-friendly suite of MATLAB functions that introduce multi-core processing and Fortran via MATLAB's executable function. Within the class of policy function iteration methods, we advocate using time iteration with linear interpolation. We examine a canonical real business cycle model and a new Keynesian model that features regime switching in policy parameters, Epstein-Zin preferences, and monetary policy that occasionally hits the zero-lower bound on the nominal interest rate to highlight the attractiveness of our methodology. We compare our advocated approach to other familiar iteration and approximation methods, highlighting the tradeoffs between accuracy, speed and robustness.

Keywords: Policy function iteration; Zero lower bound; Epstein-Zin preferences; Markov switching; Chebyshev polynomials; Real business cycle model; New Keynesian model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C63 C68 E52 E62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cba, nep-cmp, nep-dge, nep-mac, nep-mon and nep-ore
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (61)

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Journal Article: Accuracy, Speed and Robustness of Policy Function Iteration (2014)
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