In this paper we outline the Lagrangian constrained optimization method to solve complex problems subject to constraints. Firstly we summarize the Lagrangian constrained optimization routine. Secondly we outline a detailed implementation strategy. Thirdly and finally we provide example and solve...

I study optimal monetary policy in a simple New Keynesian model with portfolio adjustment costs. Purchases of long-term debt by the central bank (quantitative easing; ‘QE') alter the average portfolio return and hence influence aggregate demand and inflation. The central bank chooses the...

Monetary policy reaction functions are compared in a simple optimizing model with one-period nominal stickiness, i.i.d. shocks, and no capital accumulation. The interest rate is the instrument and is either kept constant, "interest rate targeting" for short, or used in targeting one of the...

We construct an optimizing-agent model of a closed economy which is simple enough that we can use it to make exact utility calculations. There is a stabilization problem because there are one-period nominal contracts for wages, or prices, or both and shocks that are unknown at the time when...

Recent experience with interest rates hitting the effective lower bound and agents facing binding borrowing constraints has emphasised the importance of understanding the behaviour of an economy in which some variables may be restricted at times. The extended path algorithm is a commonly used...

We are concerned with a discrete-time undiscounted dynamic lot size model in which demand and the production setup cost are constant for an initial few periods and the holding cost of inventory is an arbitrary nondecreasing function assumed to be stationary (i.e., explicitly independent of time)...

In this thesis, a new methodology using convex risk measures is developed to incorporate parameter risk into prices of financial derivatives, provided that a distribution on the parameter space is given. A technique to induce a parameter distribution in case of calibration to market prices is...