“Write Your Model Almost as You Would on Paper and Dynare Will Take Care of the Rest!” A History of the Dynare Software

Abstract

According to its creator Michel Juillard, Dynare is a “pre-processor and a collection of routines” aimed at solving and estimating non-linear rational expectation models. This article focuses on the role of Dynare in the dissemination of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models in academia and policymaking institutions. The case of Dynare highlights how the dissemination across the profession of theoretical principles and modelling practices cannot be considered independently from (at least) two general issues that involve designing computer tools for macroeconomics: tractability (i.e. the existence of a computer algorithm that can solve a mathematical problem using “reasonable” resources) and portability (i.e. the material ability of circulating and transferring a computer algorithm across models, people, and institutions). In this article, we document how the origins and the development of Dynare over three decades were guided by these two issues.

Keywords

• history of macroeconomics
• DSGE models
• Dynare
• computerization of economics