•  Second order approximation was broken for most models, giving incorrect results (this problem only affects version 4.2.3, not previous versions)
•  Bayesian priors with inverse gamma distribution and very small variances were giving incorrect results in some cases
•  The `model_diagnostics' command was broken

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the problems identified in version 4.2.2 and that have been fixed in version 4.2.3:

• `steady_state_model' was broken for lags higher than 2
• `simult_.m' was not working correctly with `order=3' if `k_order_solver' had not been explicitly specified
• `stoch_simul' with `order=3' and without `periods' option was reporting dummy theoretical moments
• Under Octave, option `solve_algo=0' was causing crashes in `check' and  `stoch_simul'
• Identification module was broken
• The test for singularity in the model reporting eigenvalues close to 0/0 was sometimes reporting false positives
• The `conditional_variance_decomposition' option was not working if one period index was 0. Now, Dynare reports an error if the periods are not strictly positive.
• Second order approximation was buggy if one variable was not present at the current period

All users are strongly encouraged to upgrade.

This release is compatible with MATLAB versions ranging from 7.0 (R14) to 7.13 (R2011b) and with GNU Octave versions ranging from 3.0 to 3.4.

Here is a list of the problems identified in version 4.2.1 and that have been fixed in version 4.2.2:

• The secondary rank test following the order test of the Blanchard and Kahn condition was faulty and almost never triggered
• The variance prior for BVAR “à la Sims” with only one lag was inconsistent.  The solution implemented consists of adding one extra observation in the presample used to compute the prior; as a consequence, the numerical results for all estimations will be slightly different in future releases (thanks to Marek Jarociński for spotting this)
• The `conditional_forecast' command was buggy: it was always using the posterior mode, whatever the value of the `parameter_set' option
• `STEADY_STATE' was not working correctly with certain types of expressions (the priority of the addition and substraction operators was incorrectly handled)
• With the `block' option of `model', the preprocessor was failing on expressions of the form "a^b" (with no endogenous in "a" but an endogenous in "b")
• Some native MATLAB statements were not correctly passed on to MATLAB (e.g.  x = { 'foo' 'bar' } )
• `external_function' was crashing in some circumstances
• The lambda parameter for HP filter was restricted to integer values for no good reason
• The `load_mh_file' option of `estimation' was crashing under Octave for Windows (MinGW version)
• Computation of steady state was failing on model contains auxiliary variables created by leads or lags larger than 2 or by of the `EXPECTATION' operator
• Compilation of MEX files for MATLAB was failing with GCC 4.6

The database now covers 50 models, ranging from small-, medium- and large-scale DSGE models to earlier-generation New-Keynesian models with rational expectations and more traditional Keynesian-style models with adaptive expectations. It includes models of the United States, the Euro Area, Canada, and several small open emerging economies. Some of the models explicitly incorporate financial frictions.

Two versions of the Modelbase software are available. One uses the solution methods in Dynare 3.065 as in the previous release, version 1.1. In addition, we now offer a version that is compatible with Dynare 4.2.1.

It is also possible to add your own models. The implementation instructions are described in Wieland, V., T. Cwik, G. Mueller, S. Schmidt and M. Wolters. “A New Comparative Approach to Macroeconomic Modeling and Policy Analysis,” Working Paper Goethe University Frankfurt, 2011.

For a subset of models in the database, replication files are provided. These files contain replications of model output presented in the original papers such as impulse responses or autocorrelations.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Your comments and suggestions are highly appreciated. Also, please feel free to forward the link to the database to interested researchers or students.

Sincerely,

Volker Wieland and Sebastian Schmidt

House of Finance, Goethe University of Frankfurt.

•  The `STEADY_STATE' operator has been fixed
•  Problems with MATLAB 7.3 (R2006b) and older have been fixed
•  The `partial_information' option of `stoch_simul' has been fixed
•  Option `conditional_variance_decomposition' of `stoch_simul' and `estimation' has been fixed
•  Automatic detrending now works in conjunction with the `EXPECTATION' operator
• Percentage signs inside strings in MATLAB statements (like disp('% This is not a comment %')) now work
• Beta prior with a very small standard deviation now work even if you do not have the MATLAB Statistical toolbox
• External functions can now been used in assignment of model local variables
• `identification' command has been fixed
• Option `cova_compute' of `estimation' command has been fixed
• Random crashes with 3rd order approximation without `use_dll' option have been eliminated

See the Dynare Working Papers homepage for details on the series contents and how to publish in it.

The Windows package is already available for download. The Mac and Linux packages should follow soon.

All users are strongly encouraged to upgrade.

Document Actions

• fixed third order approximation (was crashing or potentially wrong on some models)

• fixed “check” command in deterministic setup

• fixed covariance elements of “optim_weights” (used with “osr”)

• in a stochastic setup, model local variables are no longer replaced by their expression in the static/dynamic M/C files (was resulting in huge output if there were a lot of such variables)

• fixed “EXPECTATION” operator with a lag (was making “stoch_simul” crash)

• fixed the “histval” block in the presence of auxiliary variables (i.e. when there are lags of two or more)

• fixed preprocessor crashes when the mean or stderr of an estimated parameter with beta PDF is specified as an expression instead of a plain value
• fixed deterministic simulation with block decomposition when there is a purely backward or purely forward block of more than one equation

• fixed “STEADY_STATE” operator in conjunction with “use_dll” option or with “block” without “bytecode”

• fixed preprocessor crashes when some dynamic variables appear only in unused model local variables

• fixed output of “stoch_simul” in the presence of non-stationary variables, and when selecting only a subset of variables for the output (the “NaN”s in the “mean” column were wrongly placed)

Windows and Mac packages are already available. Linux packages (for Debian and Ubuntu) should follow soon.

Installations instructions are given on this wiki page.

Warning: if you were previously using the 4.0 packages from Dynare repository, you need to uninstall dynare-matlab7.4 and dynare-matlab7.5 packages. They have been replaced by a new package called dynare-matlab, which will recompile the MEX files on your machine.

This change will only affect users who have chosen to use the unstable (and potentially buggy) version of Dynare.

See this wiki page for more informations.

See the Download section of the website for the binary package and the installation instructions.