Win-MCD: Managing a Small Model in a Windows Environment

Jean-Louis Brillet
Départment Etudes Economiques d'Ensemble, INSEE

Abstract

We shall present the Win-MCD package, which allows to manage simulations of a small French econometric model in a Windows environment.

This package starts from a fully defined model, Micro DMS (82 equations), with a base simulation, and a set of coefficients. The user will introduce shocks on the assumptions, and observe their consequences.

The main features of the software are:

• A full environnement Windows interface.
• On line and context sensitive help with hypertext functions.
• Graphic and printing functions.
• Interactive choice of the presentation mode.
• Fast simulations (using Newton with loop variables).
• A direct management of the conditions of tests: choice of instruments, of presentations, of coefficient values through a user friendly interface.
• Combination of these elements into stored and documented environments.
• DDE links with other Windows applications (Excel...).
• Making several tests at the same time.

As the model - specific part of the program (mainly the model equations) is completely isolated from the management instructions, this framework can be applied to other models of the same kind, even somewhat larger. The amount of adaptation work will be rather small, not including of course the wrinting of the help files, and supposing that the equations, data, and coefficients are coherent (or almost) from the start.

This product should be released in the second quarter of 1996, in the shape of a book with a diskette, a user's manual, a description of the model and a set of exercices of growing difficulty.