Quantitative economic simulation tools

This page offers some basic information on the economic simulation tools currently in use or under development by our team. In the left columns are direct links to the webpages of the tools.

FARMDYN - a dynamic mixed integer bio-economic farm scale model

FARMDYN provides a flexible, modular template to simulate different farming systems (dairy, pig fattening, sows, arable farming, biogas) at single farm scale. It is fully dynamic, captures in-divisibilities in investments and labour use based on integer programming, depicts selected farm management decisions (e.g. feeding, manure management, labour use) with a sub-annual resolution and comprises different states of nature with related state-contigent decisions. Farm labour, machinery and stable use are modelled in rich detail. Operational since 2012, the original version was developed in the context of the DFG funded project "The relation between indicators for the crediting of emission rights and abatement costs - a systematic modeling approach for dairy farms". The model is written in GAMS and steered by a Graphical User Interface based on GGIG.

FARMDYN is currently used in our research projects LIFT, MIND-STEP, TransFrom2Bio and PhenoRob.

Webpage: www.ilr.uni-bonn.de/em/rsrch/farmdyn/farmdyn_e.htm

Documentation: Britz W., Lengers, B,. Kuhn, T. and Schaefer, D. (2014): A highly detailed template model for dynamic optimization of farms - FARMDYN, University of Bonn, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, Version 9/2016, 147 pages

CGEBOX - A modular and extendable framework for Computable General Equilibrium Modeling

CGEBOX is a GAMS based CGE modeling tool which is based on the GTAP family of CGE models, but offering extensions and flexibility to include features of other well-known CGE models. It can be used in comparative-static and recursive-dynamic mode, as a global and single region model. Currently, features of GTAP-E, GTAP-AEZ and GTAP-AGR can be used in modular fashion, trade can be depicted either based on Armington/CET, or using the Krugman or Melitz models, in combination with a MRIO approach. Besides the regional household approach, separate accounts for the government and (several) private household(s) can be introduced, drawing on myGTAP. Production for Europe can be depicted at the level of 250 NUTS II regions. G-RDEM, developed by Roberto Roson and Wolfgang Britz, offers a recursive-dynamic variant with features relevant for the construction of long-term baselines. The model is developed jointly with the GTAP center in Purdue, written in GAMS and steered by a Graphical User Interface based on GGIG.

CGEBox is currently used in our research projects BATMODEL, BEST and STRIVE.

Webpage: http://www.ilr.uni-bonn.de/em/rsrch/cgebox/cgebox_e.html

Documentation: Britz, W., (2016), CGEBOX model documentation, Version 11/2018, 287 pages, PDF (methodological documentation, installation instructions, GUI user guide)

GGIG - Gams Graphical Interface Generator

GGIG is a Java based tool which generates from XML-files interfaces for economic model including well-developed tools for result exploitation (tables, maps, graphs) and complements GAMS as an implementation backbone for the different tools by the group. GGIG is also used by other institutions to build interfaces for their economic models, for instance by the OECD and the EU's Joint Research Center.

Webpage: http://www.ilr.uni-bonn.de/em/rsrch/ggig/ggig_e.htm

Documentation: Britz, W (2016): GGIG user guide, 169 pages, Version June 2016

Not longer developed

ABMSIM - A flexible framework for Agent Based Models to simulate spatially explicit structural change in agriculture

ABMSim is a research activity to analyze structural change and nutrient exchanges between individal farms a spatial explicit setting. It combines a Farmdyn as a detailed single farm model based on a meta-modeling approach with an Agent Based Model (ABM) which covers a farm population from agricultural census statistics at commune level in an actual landscape with a 100x100m resolution. The model is written in Java and steered by a Graphical User Interface based on GGIG.

ABMSIM was used in our research projects Modeling structural change and agricultural nutrient flows across scales in regions of North Rhine-Westphalia and Understanding spatial interactions and structural change in the dairy production chain with a dynamic regional Agent Based Model covering dairy farms and dairy processing.

Webpage: www.ilr.uni-bonn.de/em/rsrch/abmsim/abmsim_e.htm

Documentation: Britz, W. (2014): ABMSim - A flexible framework for Agent Based Models to simulate spatially explicit structural change in agriculture, Methodological and technical documentation, Version 1.0, 32 pages

Last updated: Saturday, March 27, 2021