A large variety of markets, such as retail markets for gasoline or mortgage markets, are characterized by a small number of firms offering a fairly homogenous product at virtually the same cost, while consumers, being uninformed about this cost, sequentially search for low prices. The present...

This paper evaluates the performances of Perturbation Methods, the Parameterized Expectations Algorithm and Projection Methods in finding approximate decision rules of the basic neoclassical stochastic growth model. In contrast to the existing literature, we focus on comparing numerical methods...

We use low-order projection methods to compute numerical solutions of the basic neoclassical stochastic growth model. We assess the quality of the obtained solutions, and compare them to numerical approximations derived with first and second-order perturbation techniques. We show that projection...

We study the sustainability of public debt in a closed production economy where a benevolent government chooses scal policies, including haircuts on its outstanding debt, in a discretionary manner. Government bonds are held by domestic agents to smooth consumption over time and because they...

We examine the dynamic properties of inflation in a model of optimal discretionary fiscal and monetary policies. The lack of commitment and the presence of nominally risk-free debt provide the government with an incentive to implement policies which induce positive and persistent inflation...

We compare the performance of perturbation, projection, and stochastic simulation algorithms for solving the multi-country RBC model described in Den Haan et al. (this issue). The main challenge of solving this model comes from its large number of continuous-valued state variables, ranging...

I propose a Galerkin projection method for solving dynamic economic models with many state variables. This method employs non-product monomial integration formulas for the computation of weighted residuals, and its computational cost therefore increases only polynomially in the model's...

This paper studies optimal fiscal and monetary policies in an economy exposed to large adverse shocks (rare disasters). We contrast optimal policies under commitment and discretion and identify several striking differences between these institutional environments. A government that can commit to...