We propose an integrated treatment of the problems of optimal monetary and fiscal policy, for an economy in which prices are sticky and the only available sources of government revenue are distorting taxes. Our linear-quadratic approach allows us to nest both conventional analyses of optimal...

A new algorithm for the group minimization problem (GP) is proposed. The algorithm can be broadly described as follows. A suitable relaxation of(GP) is defined, in which any feasible point satisfies the group equation but may have negative components. The feasible points of the relaxation are...

This paper formulates a model of retirement behavior based on the solution to a stochastic dynamic programming problem. The workers objective is to maximize expected discounted utility over his remaining lifetime. At each time period the worker chooses how much to consume and whether to work...

Social interactions make communicable disease a core concern of public health policy. A prevalent problem is scarcity of empirical evidence that are informative about how interventions affect population behavior and illness. Randomized trials, which have been important to evaluation of...

Lemke's dual-simplex method of linear programming is usually considered inferior to the primal simplex method for any general linear programming problems. One reason given is the difficulty of finding a starting dual-feasible basis. In this paper, a new starting technique is presented, which...

This paper introduces a method for solving numerical dynamic stochastic optimization problems that avoids rootfinding operations. The idea is applicable to many microeconomic and macroeconomic problems, including life cycle, buffer-stock, and stochastic growth problems. Software is provided

Rules often are complex in order to distinguish different types of behavior that may have different consequences. Greater complexity thus allows better control of behavior. But individuals may need to incur costs ex ante to determine how more complex rules apply to their contemplated conduct....

A family of integer programs is considered whose right-hand-sides lie on a given line segment L. This family is called a parametric integer program (PIP). Solving a (PIP) means finding an optimal solution for every program in the family. It is shown how a simple generalization of the...

The problem of simultaneously identifying and controlling a time-varying, perfectly-observed linear system is posed. The parameters are assumed to obey a Markov structure and are estimated with a Kalman filter. The problem can be solved conceptually by dynamic programming, but even with a...