Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/210158 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 10/2019
Publisher: 
Norges Bank, Oslo
Abstract: 
Solving economic models with heterogenous agents requires computing aggregate dynamics consistent with individual behaviors. This paper introduces the finite volume method from the mathe-matics literature to enlarge the set of numerical methods available to compute dynamics in continuous time. Finite volume discretization methods allow theoretically consistent dimensional and local adaptivity that guarantee the mass conservation and positivity of the distribution function of the discretized system. This paper shows examples of 1) the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process 2) the Aiyagari-Bewley-Huggett (wealth+income heterogeneity) model and 3) the lifecycle (wealth+income+age heterogeneity) model. The numerical exercises show that for the current dimensionality of the problems in economics, the finite volume method (with or without adaptivity) outperforms pre-existing methods. This paper further provides a companion open-source implementation of the finite volume method at github.com/sehyoun/adaptive_finite_volume to reduce the testing time of the finite volume method.
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-82-8379-101-3
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.