Computational Economics

by Óscar Afonso, Paulo Vasconcelos

Computational A concise introduction is a comprehensive textbook designed to help students move from the traditional and comparative static analysis of economic models, to a modern and dynamic computational study. The ability to equate an economic problem, to formulate it into a mathematical model and to solve it computationally is becoming a crucial and distinctive competence for most economists. This vital textbook is organized around static and dynamic models, covering both macro and microeconomic topics, exploring the numerical techniques required to solve those models. A key aim of the book is to enable students to develop the ability to modify the models themselves so that, using the MATLAB/Octave codes provided on the book and on the website, students can demonstrate a complete understanding of computational methods. This textbook is innovative, easy to read and highly focused, providing students of economics with the skills needed to understand the essentials of using numerical methods to solve economic problems. It also provides more technical readers with an easy way to cope with economics through modelling and simulation. Later in the book, more elaborate economic models and advanced numerical methods are introduced which will prove valuable to those in more advanced study. This book is ideal for all students of economics, mathematics, computer science and engineering taking classes on Computational or Numerical Economics.

290 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2015

About the author

É professor de Crescimento Económico, Comércio Internacional e Economia Computacional. Tem doutoramento e agregação na Universidade do Porto, tendo publicado mais de 100 artigos em revistas internacionais como Journal of Money, Credit and Banking Research Policy, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, World Development e Macroeconomic Dynamics.

É atualmente diretor da Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto.