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E&F Chaos: A User Friendly Software Package for Nonlinear Economic Dynamics

Computational Economics volume 32, pages 221–244 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The use of nonlinear dynamic models in economics and finance has expanded rapidly in the last two decades. Numerical simulation is crucial in the investigation of nonlinear systems. E&F Chaos is an easy-to-use and freely available software package for simulation of nonlinear dynamic models to investigate stability of steady states and the presence of periodic orbits and chaos by standard numerical simulation techniques such as time series, phase plots, bifurcation diagrams, Lyapunov exponent plots, basin boundary plots and graphical analysis. The package contains many well-known nonlinear models, including applications in economics and finance, and is easy to use for non-specialists. New models and extensions or variations are easy to implement within the software package without the use of a compiler or other software. The software is demonstrated by investigating the dynamical behavior of some simple examples of the familiar cobweb model, including an extension with heterogeneous agents and asynchronous updating of strategies. Simulations with the E&F Chaos software quickly provide information about local and global dynamics and easily lead to challenging questions for further mathematical analysis.

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Acknowledgments

This paper was presented at the Fourth Workshop Modelli Dinamici in Economia e Finanza, September 21–23, 2006, Urbino, Italy. We thank all participants for helpful comments.

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CeNDEF, Department of Quantitative Economics, University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 11, 1018 WB, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Cees Diks & Cars Hommes

  2. School of Economics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Valentyn Panchenko

  3. The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA

    Roy van der Weide

Authors
  1. Cees Diks
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  2. Cars Hommes
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  3. Valentyn Panchenko
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  4. Roy van der Weide
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Correspondence to Cees Diks.

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Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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Diks, C., Hommes, C., Panchenko, V. et al. E&F Chaos: A User Friendly Software Package for Nonlinear Economic Dynamics. Comput Econ 32, 221–244 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10614-008-9130-x

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Keywords

  • Nonlinear dynamics
  • Simulation software
  • Heterogeneous agents

JEL Classification

  • C60
  • E37
  • G10