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This paper investigates algorithmic properties and overall performance of the exact auction algorithm in Demange, Gale and Sotomayor (J. Polit. Economy 94: 863-872, 1986) or DGS for short. This task is achieved by interpreting DGS as a graph and by conducting a large number of computer simulations. The crucial step in DGS is when the auctioneer selects a so-called minimal overdemanded set of items because the specific selection may affect a number of performance measures such as the number of iterations and the ratio of elicited preferences. The computational results show that (i) DGS graphs are typically large even for relatively small numbers of bidders and items, (ii) DGS converges slowly and (iii) DGS performs well in terms of preference elicitation. The paper also demonstrates that the modification to DGS based on the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm outperforms all investigated rules for selecting a minimal overdemanded set of items in DGS both in terms of termination speed and preference elicitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a decomposition algorithm by which a market economy with many households may be solved through the computation of equilibria for a sequence of representative agent economies. The paper examines local and global convergence properties of the sequential recalibration (SR) algorithm. The SR algorithm is then demonstrated to efficiently solve Auerbach–Kotlikoff OLG models with a large number of heterogeneous households. We approximate equilibria in OLG models by solving a sequence of related Ramsey optimal growth problems. This approach can provide improvements in both efficiency and robustness as compared with integrated complementarity-based solution methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last years a central issue in regional economic growth debate is represented by the convergence problem. Many empirical economists have noticed that per-worker GDP of poor regions tend to converge to those of richer regions. However more recently it has been observed that the economic convergence might not be achieved if, in the empirical analysis, we consider the entire data set as one sample. The phenomenon should be analyzed considering regions as belonging to different sub-samples with quite similar economy. Many authors refer to this hypothesis as economic convergence clubs. The definition of these homogeneous groups represents a crucial issue in many regional economic growth studies. The aim of this paper is to propose a method for the identification of convergence clubs for the European regions at NUTS 2 level. The econometric specification used is based on the classical, and spatial augmented version of the conditional β-convergence model. Two different optimization algorithms for the identification of convergence clubs are proposed and compared: Simulated Annealing and Iterated Conditional Modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dating of a possible European business cycle has been inconclusive. At this stage, there is no consensus on the existence of such a cycle, or of its periodicity and amplitude, or of the relationship of individual member countries to that cycle. Yet cyclical convergence is the key consideration for countries that wish to be members of the currency union. The confusion over whether and to what degree the UK is converging on the cycles of its European partners, or whether its cycle is more in line with the US, is one example of this lack of consensus. Moreover, countries will vary in the components and characteristics that make up their output cycles at any moment, as well as in the state of their cycle. In this paper we show how to decompose a business cycle into a time-frequency framework. This allows us to decompose movements in output, both at the European level and in member countries, into their component cycles and allows those component cycles (and the coherence between them) to vary in their importance and cyclical characteristics. That then allows us to determine if the inconclusive convergence results obtained so far have appeared because member countries have some cycles in common, but diverge at other frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a new pair trading method to detect inefficiencies in exchange rates movements and arbitrage opportunities using a convergence/divergence indicator (CDI) belonging to the oscillatory class. The proposed technique is applied to 11 exchange rates over the period 2010-2015, and trading rules based on CDI signals are obtained. The CDI indicator is shown to outperform others of the oscillatory class and in some cases (for EURAUD and AUDJPY) to generate profits. The suggested approach is of general interest and can be applied to different financial markets and assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncovering the evolutionary dynamics of economies is helpful for us to design economic policy. This paper develops an economic evolution model by examining the coupled dynamics of industry growth and interindustry structure. For each industry, its economic properties (mainly characterized by price and quantity) are incorporated into the model. The input-output relationships among different industries are described as input-output networks, in which nodes represent industries, and weights represent technological and economic constraints between pairing industries. By measuring the dynamic importance of each node, we find that all the nodes in the input-output networks have the same dynamic importance. On the basis of this empirical regularity and the rational expectation assumption, we show that the coupled dynamics of the economic properties of nodes and input-output networks can explain the evolutionary dynamics of national economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate that agent-based simulations can exhibit results in line with classic macroeconomic theory. In particular, we present an agent-based simulation of an Arrow-Debreu economy that accurately exhibits the Stolper-Samuelson effect as an emergent property. Absent of a Walrasian auctioneer or any other central coordination, we let firm and consumer agents of different types interact in an open, money-driven market. Exogenous preference shocks result in price and wage shifts that are in accordance with the general equilibrium solution, not only qualitatively but also quantitatively with high accuracy. Key to this achievement are three independent measures. First, we overcome the poor input synchronization of conventional price finding heuristics of firms in agent-based models by introducing sensor prices, a novel approach to price finding that decouples information exploitation from information exploration. Second, we improve accuracy and convergence by employing exponential search as exploration algorithm. Third, we normalize prices indirectly by fixing dividends, thereby stabilizing the system's dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a proof that the computational solution from discretized value function iteration will converge uniformly to the true solution for both the value function and the optimal policy function. We allow for non-differentiable value functions, non-concave return functions, and non-convexities in the feasible choice set. This result fills an important gap in the literature for this commonly used numerical method as existing results assume differentiability of the value function, concavity of the return function, convexity of feasible choice sets, or simply do not consider the optimal policy function. Our results thus extend the existing literature to cover cases in which value function iteration becomes a common solution method and allow for economic applications such as modelling of technology adoption and payroll taxes not covered by previous results. Results on the convergence of the value function and optimal policy function allow for their use as the basis of studying convergence of computational solution, simulation, and estimation of more advanced Macroeconomic models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the co-movement patterns of European business cycles during the period 1986-2011, with an obvious focal point the year 1999 that marked the introduction of the common currency, the euro. The empirical analysis is performed within the context of Graph Theory where we apply a rolling window approach in order to dynamically analyze the evolution of the network that corresponds to the GDP growth rate cross-correlations of 22 European economies. The main innovation of our study is that the analysis is performed by introducing what we call the threshold-minimum dominating set (T-MDS). We provide evidence at the network level and analyze its structure and evolution by the metrics of total network edges, network density, isolated nodes and the cardinality of the T-MDS set. Next, focusing on the country level, we analyze each individual country's neighborhood set (economies with similar growth patterns) in the pre- and post-euro era in order to assess the degree of convergence to the rest of the economies in the network. Our empirical results indicate that despite a few economies' idiosyncratic behavior, the business cycles of the European countries display an overall increased degree of synchronization and thus convergence in the single currency era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial positive (negative) monotonicity in a dataset is the property that an increase in an independent variable, ceteris paribus, generates an increase (decrease) in the dependent variable. A test for partial monotonicity in datasets could (1) increase model performance if monotonicity may be assumed, (2) validate the practical relevance of policy and legal requirements, and (3) guard against falsely assuming monotonicity both in theory and applications. To our knowledge, there is no test for this phenomenon available yet. In this article, we propose a novel non-parametric test, which does not require resampling or simulation. It is formally proven that the test is asymptotically conservative, and that its power converges to one. A brief simulation study shows the characteristics of the test. Finally, in order to show its practical applicability, we apply the test to a dataset and interpret its results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the ability of the learning firms in a Cournot oligopoly to discover market solutions more collusive that the Cournot equilibrium (CE). We start from the results of Vallée and Yıldızoğlu (J Econ Behav Organ 72:670-690, ) and of Alós-Ferrer (Int J Ind Organ 22:193-217, ), and qualify the role of random experimenting, social learning (imitation), and (updated) memory in helping firms to discover such solutions. Our new computational results show, in contradiction with Alós-Ferrer , that memory and its continuous update can indeed allow firms to beat the CE, and benefit from significant periods with higher profits. We show that the results of the literature on evolutionary learning in oligopoly can analytically be characterized through the interaction of three forces, and indicate when these forces can yield more collusive outcomes. We confirm these results with complementary computational experiments that clearly show the role of long memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the stability properties of a benchmark general equilibrium model involving pervasive stickiness on information updating. Dynamic behavior is determined essentially by two types of entities: on one hand, the degree of information stickiness that characterizes the price-setting decisions of firms and the consumption and labor supply decisions of households and, on the other hand, a policy parameter that indicates how the central bank acts in order to stabilize prices. Under perfect foresight, stability will hold and the degree of information stickiness simply indicates the velocity of convergence towards the steady-state. If the ability to forecast future events is less than perfect, stability will then depend on monetary policy-the main result is that the stickier the diffusion of information is, the more aggressive monetary policy must be in order to guarantee convergence towards the long-term steady-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]