Microsimulation

The PWBM Microsimulation Model (Microsim) creates simulated populations and their corresponding economies, capable of projecting a rich array of more than 60 demographic and economic variables. When combined with PWBM’s Tax Module, Social Security Module, and Dynamic OLG, it captures the effects of government tax and spending policies under projections of the nation’s evolving demographic and economic landscape.

Many public and private institutions are engaged in public policy research. However, we perceive many shortcomings in the models and approaches that are being used to generate estimates of national economic performance and government budget projections. This results in policymakers not receiving the most accurate and reliable advice on the effects of alternative public policies at the micro- and macro-economic levels.

The Microsim’s objective is to create a computational tool that incorporates all of the necessary details about the nation's economic and demographic profile and to integrate those data in an internally consistent manner. At the same time, the tool should be sufficiently flexible in order to explore the implications of a wide array of economic policy issues.

In order to learn more about how PWBM's Microsim works, please see our technical documentation which outlines major model methods and components.

In order to help other researchers, we've also released a Public Use File of our Microsim. As of now, it includes a variety of demographic variables that we hope will guide your research. Feel free to explore some sample validations from our current model version, and fill out the request form for access to the data.