George Sadowsky
George Sadowsky
MASH: A COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR MICROANALYTIC SIMULATION FOR POLICY EXPLORATION
George Sadowsky
Yale University, 1988
This dissertation describes the design and construction of a computer-based system for the construction and execution of microanalytic models. The specific models for which MASH is optimized are models of the household sector which are embedded in a larger macroeconomic framework. The dissertation includes an analysis of the problems in constructing initial microanalytic simulation states, and describes the creation of two such initial population states from Census machine readable microdata sources.
The subject of both microanalytic mode and computer system specification are addressed at several different levels. For the microanalytic model builder. the dissertation includes a discussion of the creation of initial populations, specification of both microanalytic and macroeconomic models, and the substantive characteristics of solutions obtained. For the computer specialist, discussions of the computing environment in which the system was implemented, the strategy underlying the system design and implementation process, and the syntax and semantics of the command language, including its implementation, are included.
This work was performed primarily under Guy Orcutt at the Urban Institute during the period 1970-1977. It has been published by the Urban Institute (see publications list), who holds the copyright on it. A companion publication, Policy Exploration Through Microanalytic Simulation, has also been published by the Institute and describes the use of this work in embodying current microanalytic knowledge of the household sector and in exploring a variety of public policy options with respect to it.
