Timeframe
2007–2012
Funding
Foundation for Research, Science, and Technology
COMPASS staff
Peter Davis
Roy Lay-Yee
Janet Pearson
Oliver Mannion
Wendy Wrapson
Barry Milne
Karl Parker
Martin von Randow
Jessica McLay
Collaborators
University of Auckland
Tracey McIntosh
Louise Humpage
University of Surrey
Nigel Gilbert
National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM)
Laurie Brown
University of Koblenz-Landau
Klaus Troitzsch
Statistics Canada
Martin Spielauer
Brescia University
Flaminio Squazzoni
University of Sheffield
Dimitris Ballas
Description
This project involved the construction of interactive computer simulation software to act as a decision-support tool for policymakers. The simulation was based on data from existing longitudinal studies in New Zealand, and aimed to quantify the underlying drivers and determinants of progress in the early life-course.
The software used microsimulation and ran as a Java application using Java Microsimulation (JAMSIM), a synthesis of open source packages developed by Oliver Mannion, our programmer. A Java agent-based modelling graphical tool called Ascape provided an interactive GUI, while the data and analysis were handled by R, which was embedded into the application and used the custom package Simario, also developed by the project team. The whole package was branded as a Model of the Early Life-Course (MEL-C).
The source codes for both JAMSIM and Simario are publicly available via the COMPASS GitHub.
Presentations
July 2010
Developing a Simulation Tool for Policymakers: The Modelling the Early Life-Course Project (MEL-C)
Peter Davis, Roy Lay-Yee, Wendy Wrapson – COMPASS Colloquium 2010, Wellington
October 2012
Modelling the Early Life-Course (MEL-C): A simulation tool for policymakers
Barry Milne – ICEGOV2012, Albany, New York
August 2013
Using Multiple Longitudinal Datasets to Inform a Microsimulation Model of the Early Life-Course
Barry Milne – COMPASS Colloquium 2013, Wellington
Creating Synthetic Data using Composites of Similar Individuals
Barry Milne – COMPASS Colloquium 2013, Wellington
July 2014
Simario: An R Package for Dynamic Microsimulation
Jessica McLay – COMPASS Colloquium 2014, Wellington
October 2014
Modelling the Early Life-Course: A decision-support tool for policymakers
Barry Milne – International Methodology Symposium 2014, Ottawa