MAKRO is an economic model built to provide a good description of the Danish economy in both the short and the long run.
In addition, the model is used to analyze how economic policy initiatives affect the economy including the gradual transition to a long run path.
The model is developed by the MAKRO model group at DREAM (Danish Research Institute for Economic Analysis and Modelling ) for use by the Danish Ministry of Finance.
The model parameters, equations, and data as a whole have been selected such that the short and long run properties are as empirically and theoretically well-founded as possible. Any changes to parameters, equations, or data are solely the user’s responsibility and we request that any changes are explicitly presented in any publication making use of MAKRO.
January 2022 version
This is the first publicly available beta version of MAKRO.
It comes with batteries included in the form of a stylized baseline starting in 2025, such that users can simulate marginal policy experiments without requiring a data subscription or calibrating the model.
Note that the stylized baseline is NOT a serious forecast of the Danish economy, but rather is based on a number of simplified projection assumptions. As such, the baseline should only be used for marginal experiments rather than as a forecast on its own.
Documentation
The model documentation in English is included in this repository under Documentation/Documentation.pdf.
Variable names and documentation in the code are in Danish, however, comments regarding the structure of the code are in English for anyone looking for a template on how to structure a large model.
GAMS and gamY
MAKRO is written in GAMS, but uses a pre-processor, gamY, that implements additional features that are convenient for working with large models.
An installation of GAMS is needed to run MAKRO (we recommend using the latest version) as well as a license for both GAMS and the included Conopt4 solver. Note that students and academics may have access to a license through their university.
The paths.cmd file should be adjusted with the path to your local GAMS installation.
gamY can be run as a stand-alone executable or as a python script – both are included in the gamY subdirectory. The documentation for gamY is also included.
The recommended text editor for working with gamY is Sublime Text 3, where the gamY sublime package provides syntax highlighting.
Running shocks and replicating working papers
The manuscripts for three working papers are included in the Analysis subdirectory along with the code necessary to simulate the experiments and reproduce the figures in these papers. The working papers are
- “Grundlæggende stødanalyser i MAKRO”
- “Analyse af stød til pensio
