Dear colleagues,
I am thinking about a piece of work, looking at the costs of
different policies for managing obesity, for which
microsimulation might be a useful option.
A good snappy definition of microsimulation is
"Microsimulation models are computer models that operate at
the level of the individual behavioural entity, such as a
person, family, or firm. Such models simulate large
representative populations of these low-level entities in
order to draw conclusions that apply to higher levels of
aggregation such as an entire country. This type of model is
distinct from aggregate models whose explanatory variables
already represent collective properties." Statistics Canada
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/microsimulation/index-eng.htm.
In my case the "entities simulated" will be people. I am
finding it hard to locate material on the nuts and bolts of
actually doing microsimulation. There are lots of existing
models for simulating specific stuff in specific countries,
and there are lots of papers reporting the results of such
analyses, but I have found neither :-
1) a flexible general purpose model framework which I can
recycle,
nor
2) a detailed exposition of how to set up such models from
scratch and what can go wrong.
Doubtless this reflects my ignorance. However, can anyone
give me some pointers to either of these? I will recycle
your summarized answers to the list.
Best wishes,
Anthony
--
Anthony Staines, Professor of Health Systems Research,
School of Nursing, Dublin City University, Dublin 9,Ireland.
Tel:- +353 1 700 7807. Mobile:- +353 86 606 9713
You may leave the list at any time by sending the command
SIGNOFF allstat
to [log in to unmask], leaving the subject line blank.
|