Economic Dynamics: Theory and Computation [Hardcover]

John Stachurski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2009

"John Stachurski has written the book that convincingly links theoretical models of discrete time, nonlinear growth models, and the simulation and computation of the applications of these models. He makes these growth models accessible to researchers through the connection of theory and technique. Economic Dynamics covers foundational material useful for students and researchers. I highly recommend this book." -- Leonard J. Mirman, Department of Economics, University of Virginia

Editorial Reviews

Review

A rigorous and example-driven introduction to topics in economic dynamics, with an emphasis on mathematical and computational techniques for modeling dynamic systems.

"This book is a delightfully novel and thorough treatment of stochastic dynamic modeling. It builds on the well-known results as well as synthesizing the latest developments. Readers will find the many pictures and graphics as well as computer code and examples incredibly helpful. The book is beautifully written by a rapidly rising young star and is a must read for any economist and other researchers who want to learn the tools of dynamic stochastic modeling and apply these tools in their own research." -- William A. Brock, Vilas Research Professor of Economics, The University of Wisconsin, Madison

"Graduate macroeconomics courses are becoming technically more sophisticated every year. Currently, there are very few books available that introduce the necessary mathematical techniques to understand modern macroeconomics and that are comprehensible to the non mathematician. John Stachurski's book helps fill this void. It is easy to read - conversational in tone - and yet it does not shy away from difficult material. But the book is more than just an introduction to dynamics for the mathematically challenged graduate student. It will also be an invaluable aid to the researcher as a reference book on stochastic dynamics."--Roger Farmer, Department of Economics, UCLA

(Roger Farmer )

"An invaluable monograph on stochastic dynamical systems that's ideally suited as a supplement for graduate courses in computational general equilibrium, macroeconomics, and asset pricing. The emphasis on economic illustrations and computational codes makes this volume a rich source of tools for students, instructors, and practitioners of economic dynamics." Costas Azariadis , Mallinckrodt University Professor and Director, Center for Dynamic Economics, Washington University, St. Louis

About the Author

This text provides an introduction to the modern theory of economic dynamics, with emphasis on mathematical and computational techniques for modeling dynamic systems. Written to be both rigorous and engaging, the book shows how sound understanding of the underlying theory leads to effective algorithms for solving real world problems. The material makes extensive use of programming examples to illustrate ideas. These programs help bring to life the abstract concepts in the text. Background in computing and analysis is offered for readers without programming experience or upper-level mathematics. Topics covered in detail include nonlinear dynamic systems, finite-state Markov chains, stochastic dynamic programming, stochastic stability and computation of equilibria. The models are predominantly nonlinear, and the emphasis is on studying nonlinear systems in their original form, rather than by means of rudimentary approximation methods such as linearization. Much of the material is new to economics and improves on existing techniques. For graduate students and those already working in the field, Economic Dynamics will serve as an essential resource.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (January 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262012774
• ISBN-13: 978-0262012775
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Stachurski is an associate professor at the Kyoto Institute of Economic Research. He is a winner of the IJET Lionel McKenzie Prize, awarded to young authors who have made outstanding contributions to economic theory. His research is published in such leading journals as Econometrica and Journal of Economic Theory.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great way to get tooled up to consume and then produce research in Economic Dynamics, March 18, 2009

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Azev77 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Economic Dynamics: Theory and Computation (Hardcover)

This book is a great way for an aspiring economist (early graduate student) to get tooled up to consume (and eventually produce) research in economic dynamics. He begins the book with a fundamental intertemporal optimization problem that is easy to understand, but cannot be solved with most techniques that one learns as an undergraduate (Calculus, Lagrangian optimization...). This problem motivates the reader to learn the basic Analysis and Measure Theory in the following chapters.
He does a pretty good job at summarizing the basic results from Analysis that a graduate student should know in 19 pages. (It could have been a bit longer and included some material on inner-product spaces.) I found it better than chapter 3 of Stokey, Lucas and Prescott (SLP). However for someone who wants to do serious work in economic theory there is no substitute for learning Analysis from a textbook that focuses exclusively on it.
Using these basic results from Analysis, he introduces the reader to the fundamental ideas of Dynamics in Chapter 4 which is my favorite chapter in the book. Dynamics is an exciting subject that many undergraduate majors don't come across. He provides many famous applications of these methods from the literature including: Long and Plosser (1983), Hamilton (2005), and Quah (1993).
His introduction to Measure Theory and abstract integration is extremely intuitive (his illustrations on pages 161-162 help the reader visualize the concepts). His introduction to Measure-Theoretic Probability is very useful in many different areas of economics (from econometrics to finance to macroeconomics). He then applies all of these tools to stochastic dynamic programming in the following chapters which are more technical.
At first I wasn't sure whether I liked his idea about using Python code, as many people in economics use Matlab or Gauss. Luckily he provides the equivalent programs written in Matlab on his website. Though I think he might be correct when he writes that Python is quickly gaining popularity. We'll have to see...
His website is a good resource for things related to his book, however I would also like to see the code he used to make the illustrations in the book, as well as a solutions manual to the practice problems in the text, as some of them are technical.
Bottom Line: if you have knowledge of multi-variable calculus, Linear Algebra, and undergraduate Probability and have some experience writing proofs (basic real analysis), this self-contained book is a great way for you to get tooled up in the methods necessary to understand Economic Dynamics.