Software can be distributed closed source (proprietary) or open source (developed collaboratively). While a firm cannot sell open source software, and so loses potential sales revenue, the open source software development process can have a substantial positive impact on the quality of a...

Since the end of the seventies Skiba points have been studied in infinite time optimal control problems with multiple steady states. At such a Skiba point the decision maker is indifferent between choosing trajectories that approach different steady states. This paper extends this theory towards...

Optimal control of dynamic econometric models has a wide variety of applications including economic policy relevant issues. There are several algorithms extending the basic case of a linear-quadratic optimization and taking nonlinearity and stochastics into account, but being still limited in a...

Complex dynamic systems can undergo changes in feedbacks between system components causing a rapid and persistent shift in system behavior (“regime shifts”), and potentially reduce welfare from declining provision of important ecosystem services. In this paper, we provide an analytical...

There is growing concern that trade, by connecting geographically isolated regions, unintentionally facilitates the spread of invasive pathogens and pests – forms of biological pollution that pose significant risks to ecosystem and human health. We use a bioeconomic framework to examine...

This paper models the gold standard as a state contingent commitment technology that is only feasible during peace. Monetary policy during war, when the gold convertibility rule is suspended, can still be credible, if the policymaker's plan is to resume the gold standard in the future. The DSGE...

This paper formulates a continuous-time information transmission model in which an altruistic sender privately observes a stochastic state variable, and incurs a communication cost when she broadcasts a message. We characterize the sender's optimal announcement strategy using an ordinary...

Numerous optimal control models analyzed in economics are formulated as discounted infinite time horizon problems, where the defining functions are nonlinear as well in the states as in the controls. As a consequence solutions can often only be found numerically. Moreover, the long run optimal...

The maximin criterion defines the highest utility level that can be sustained in an intergenerational equity perspective. The viability approach makes it possible to characterize all the economic trajectories sustaining a given, not necessarily maximal, utility level. In this paper, we exhibit...

During the accumulation phase of a defined-contribution pension scheme, a scheme member invests part of their stochastic income in a portfolio of a stock and a bond in order to build up sufficient funds for retirement. It is assumed that the remainder of their salary pre-retirement is consumed,...