Petr Sedláček
Professor of Economics

Tools for Macroeconomists Summer School

Lectures and Hands-On Computer Sessions

The Summer School will be delivered virtually this year.

Overview


These intensive graduate-level courses provide a combination of lectures and hands-on computer sessions. Participants will leave with a deep understanding of numerical methods and a portfolio of Matlab codes implementing them.

The Essentials

Advanced Tools
July 18-22, 2022
 July 25-29, 2022
Wouter den Haan and Petr Sedláček

 Wouter den Haan and Pontus Rendahl
This course covers basic building blocks of numerical analysis, their use in solving modern macroeconomic models and an introduction into model estimation. Students will use Matlab code to solve and analyse macroeconomic models.

Topics include:
  • function approximation, numerical integration
  • perturbation, projection methods
  • Kalman filter, Bayesian estimation, MCMC methods
For more information, click here		 This course teaches state-of-the-art methods for solving and analyzing advanced macro-economic models. Participants will not only write their own code, but also learn how to resolve problems that researchers may run into when using these advanced methods.

Topics include:
  • models with heterogeneous agents
  • continuous time models
  • models with occassionally binding constraints
For more information, click here

Key elements


Morning lectures


Each morning, a 3h lecture will introduce participants to the topic of the day. The focus is not on a single technique, but on state-of-the-art alternatives understanding when their use is appropriate. The key aim is to understand the techniques, not just being able to run programs and generate output.

Afternoon computer sessions


Every afternoon, participants will implement the techniques discussed in lectures. Carefully designed assignments are solved in groups with the help of the instructor and teaching assistants. This is a crucial part of the course as it forces participants to truly understand the inner workings of the computational methods.

The assignments are based on pre-prepared Matlab code which includes the structure necessary for solving the assignment. However, the code leaves out the key computing steps. This way students do not waste effort on setting up the computer code, while at the same time being forced to put together the key elements necessary for implementing the computational method.

At the end of the course, answers to all assignments are made available. Therefore, participants walk away with a portfolio of Matlab codes implementing all the discussed computational techniques.

Fees


Students: £ 475 per course Regular: £ 625 per course Professional: £ 625 per course
   for MPhil/MRes/MSc/PhD    for academic staff    for central banks and non-academic institutions

We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the ESRC which enables the reduced tuition fee rate for students.


New

How to Apply


To apply, please fill in the online form below.


Acceptances will be announced as applications are received. For general inquiries, please email numerical.summerschool@protonmail.com

Our Terms and Conditions can be found here.