IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v212y2023icp366-391.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Moment set selection for the SMM using simple machine learning

Author

Listed:
  • Zila, Eric
  • Kukacka, Jiri

Abstract

This paper addresses the moment selection issue of the simulated method of moments, an estimation technique commonly applied to intractable agent-based models. We develop a simple machine learning extension reducing arbitrariness and automating the moment choice. Two algorithms are proposed: backward stepwise moment elimination and forward stepwise moment selection. The methodology is tested using simulations on a Markov-switching multifractal framework and two popular financial agent-based models with increasing complexity. We find that both algorithms can identify multiple moment sets that outperform all benchmark sets. Moreover, we achieve considerable in-sample estimation precision gains of up to 66 percent for agent-based models. Finally, an out-of-sample empirical exercise with S&P 500 data strongly supports the practical applicability of our methodology as the estimated models pass the validity test of overidentifying restrictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Zila, Eric & Kukacka, Jiri, 2023. "Moment set selection for the SMM using simple machine learning," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 366-391.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:212:y:2023:i:c:p:366-391
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.05.040
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268123001944
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.05.040?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. S. Alfarano & T. Lux & F. Wagner, 2007. "Empirical validation of stochastic models of interacting agents," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 55(2), pages 183-187, January.
    2. Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea & Sani, Amir, 2018. "Agent-based model calibration using machine learning surrogates," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 366-389.
    3. Hansen, Lars Peter, 1982. "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Method of Moments Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(4), pages 1029-1054, July.
    4. Roberto Dieci & Xue-Zhong He, 2018. "Heterogeneous Agent Models in Finance," Research Paper Series 389, Quantitative Finance Research Centre, University of Technology, Sydney.
    5. Lee, Bong-Soo & Ingram, Beth Fisher, 1991. "Simulation estimation of time-series models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2-3), pages 197-205, February.
    6. Noemi Schmitt & Frank Westerhoff, 2017. "Heterogeneity, spontaneous coordination and extreme events within large-scale and small-scale agent-based financial market models," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 1041-1070, November.
    7. Altonji, Joseph G & Segal, Lewis M, 1996. "Small-Sample Bias in GMM Estimation of Covariance Structures," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 14(3), pages 353-366, July.
    8. Franke, Reiner & Jang, Tae-Seok & Sacht, Stephen, 2015. "Moment matching versus Bayesian estimation: Backward-looking behaviour in a New-Keynesian baseline model," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 126-154.
    9. Alexandru Mandes & Peter Winker, 2017. "Complexity and model comparison in agent based modeling of financial markets," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 12(3), pages 469-506, October.
    10. McFadden, Daniel, 1989. "A Method of Simulated Moments for Estimation of Discrete Response Models without Numerical Integration," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(5), pages 995-1026, September.
    11. Jang, Tae-Seok & Sacht, Stephen, 2021. "Forecast heuristics, consumer expectations, and New-Keynesian macroeconomics: A Horse race," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 493-511.
    12. Giorgio Fagiolo & Mattia Guerini & Francesco Lamperti & Alessio Moneta & Andrea Roventini, 2017. "Validation of Agent-Based Models in Economics and Finance," LEM Papers Series 2017/23, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    13. Tubbenhauer, Tobias & Fieberg, Christian & Poddig, Thorsten, 2021. "Multi-agent-based VaR forecasting," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    14. Isabelle Salle & Murat Yıldızoğlu, 2014. "Efficient Sampling and Meta-Modeling for Computational Economic Models," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 507-536, December.
    15. Kukacka, Jiri & Kristoufek, Ladislav, 2021. "Does parameterization affect the complexity of agent-based models?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 324-356.
    16. Lux, Thomas, 2022. "Inference for Nonlinear State Space Models: A Comparison of Different Methods applied to Markov-Switching Multifractal Models," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 69-95.
    17. Zhenxi Chen & Thomas Lux, 2018. "Estimation of Sentiment Effects in Financial Markets: A Simulated Method of Moments Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 711-744, October.
    18. Duffie, Darrell & Singleton, Kenneth J, 1993. "Simulated Moments Estimation of Markov Models of Asset Prices," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(4), pages 929-952, July.
    19. Platt, Donovan, 2020. "A comparison of economic agent-based model calibration methods," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    20. Peter Winker & Manfred Gilli & Vahidin Jeleskovic, 2007. "An objective function for simulation based inference on exchange rate data," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 2(2), pages 125-145, December.
    21. Hamilton, James D, 1989. "A New Approach to the Economic Analysis of Nonstationary Time Series and the Business Cycle," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(2), pages 357-384, March.
    22. Vandin, Andrea & Giachini, Daniele & Lamperti, Francesco & Chiaromonte, Francesca, 2022. "Automated and distributed statistical analysis of economic agent-based models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    23. Farmer, J. Doyne & Joshi, Shareen, 2002. "The price dynamics of common trading strategies," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 149-171, October.
    24. Laurent E. Calvet, 2004. "How to Forecast Long-Run Volatility: Regime Switching and the Estimation of Multifractal Processes," Journal of Financial Econometrics, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 49-83.
    25. Alan Kirman, 1993. "Ants, Rationality, and Recruitment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(1), pages 137-156.
    26. Ivonne Schwartz & Mark Kirstein, 2022. "Time is limited on the road to asymptopia," Papers 2208.08169, arXiv.org.
    27. Alfarano, Simone & Lux, Thomas & Wagner, Friedrich, 2006. "Estimation of a simple agent-based model of financial markets: An application to Australian stock and foreign exchange data," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 370(1), pages 38-42.
    28. Leonardo Bargigli & Luca Riccetti & Alberto Russo & Mauro Gallegati, 2020. "Network calibration and metamodeling of a financial accelerator agent based model," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 15(2), pages 413-440, April.
    29. Grazzini, Jakob & Richiardi, Matteo, 2015. "Estimation of ergodic agent-based models by simulated minimum distance," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 148-165.
    30. Alfarano, Simone & Lux, Thomas & Wagner, Friedrich, 2008. "Time variation of higher moments in a financial market with heterogeneous agents: An analytical approach," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 101-136, January.
    31. Brock, William A. & Hommes, Cars H., 1998. "Heterogeneous beliefs and routes to chaos in a simple asset pricing model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 22(8-9), pages 1235-1274, August.
    32. Delli Gatti, Domenico & Grazzini, Jakob, 2020. "Rising to the challenge: Bayesian estimation and forecasting techniques for macroeconomic Agent Based Models," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 875-902.
    33. Siyan Chen & Saul Desiderio, 2022. "A Regression-Based Calibration Method for Agent-Based Models," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 687-700, February.
    34. Hansen, Lars Peter & Singleton, Kenneth J, 1982. "Generalized Instrumental Variables Estimation of Nonlinear Rational Expectations Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(5), pages 1269-1286, September.
    35. Day, Richard H. & Huang, Weihong, 1990. "Bulls, bears and market sheep," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 299-329, December.
    36. Grazzini, Jakob & Richiardi, Matteo G. & Tsionas, Mike, 2017. "Bayesian estimation of agent-based models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 26-47.
    37. Donovan Platt, 2022. "Bayesian Estimation of Economic Simulation Models Using Neural Networks," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 599-650, February.
    38. Annalisa Fabretti, 2013. "On the problem of calibrating an agent based model for financial markets," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 8(2), pages 277-293, October.
    39. Pakes, Ariel & Pollard, David, 1989. "Simulation and the Asymptotics of Optimization Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(5), pages 1027-1057, September.
    40. Kukacka, Jiri & Kristoufek, Ladislav, 2020. "Do ‘complex’ financial models really lead to complex dynamics? Agent-based models and multifractality," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    41. Carrasco, Marine & Florens, Jean-Pierre, 2002. "Simulation-Based Method of Moments and Efficiency," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(4), pages 482-492, October.
    42. Rama Cont, 2007. "Volatility Clustering in Financial Markets: Empirical Facts and Agent-Based Models," Springer Books, in: Gilles Teyssière & Alan P. Kirman (ed.), Long Memory in Economics, pages 289-309, Springer.
    43. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/13thfd12aa8rmplfudlgvgahff is not listed on IDEAS
    44. Thomas Lux, 2022. "Bayesian Estimation of Agent-Based Models via Adaptive Particle Markov Chain Monte Carlo," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 451-477, August.
    45. Lux, Thomas, 2018. "Estimation of agent-based models using sequential Monte Carlo methods," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 391-408.
    46. Franke, Reiner, 2009. "Applying the method of simulated moments to estimate a small agent-based asset pricing model," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 804-815, December.
    47. Lee, Ju-Sung & Filatova, Tatiana & Ligmann-Zielinska, Arika & Hassani-Mahmooei, Behrooz & Stonedahl, Forrest & Lorscheid, Iris & Voinov, Alexey & Polhill, J. Gareth & Sun, Zhanli & Parker, Dawn C., 2015. "The complexities of agent-based modeling output analysis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 18(4).
    48. Noemi Schmitt & Frank Westerhoff, 2017. "Herding behaviour and volatility clustering in financial markets," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(8), pages 1187-1203, August.
    49. Gilli, M. & Winker, P., 2003. "A global optimization heuristic for estimating agent based models," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 299-312, March.
    50. Harrison Hong & Jeremy C. Stein, 1999. "A Unified Theory of Underreaction, Momentum Trading, and Overreaction in Asset Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2143-2184, December.
    51. Jean Boivin & Marc P. Giannoni, 2006. "Has Monetary Policy Become More Effective?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 445-462, August.
    52. Kocherlakota, Narayana R., 1990. "On tests of representative consumer asset pricing models," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 285-304, October.
    53. R. Cont, 2001. "Empirical properties of asset returns: stylized facts and statistical issues," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 223-236.
    54. Tae-Seok Jang & Stephen Sacht, 2016. "Animal Spirits and the Business Cycle: Empirical Evidence from Moment Matching," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(1), pages 76-113, February.
    55. Franke, Reiner & Westerhoff, Frank, 2012. "Structural stochastic volatility in asset pricing dynamics: Estimation and model contest," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1193-1211.
    56. Jakob Grazzini, 2012. "Analysis of the Emergent Properties: Stationarity and Ergodicity," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 15(2), pages 1-7.
    57. Reiner Franke, 2018. "Competitive moment matching of a New-Keynesian and an Old-Keynesian model," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 13(2), pages 201-239, July.
    58. Ghonghadze, Jaba & Lux, Thomas, 2016. "Bringing an elementary agent-based model to the data: Estimation via GMM and an application to forecasting of asset price volatility," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-19.
    59. Isabelle Salle & Murat Yıldızoğlu, 2014. "Efficient Sampling and Meta-Modeling for Computational Economic Models," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 507-536, December.
    60. Ching-Sheng Mao, 1990. "Hypothesis testing and finite sample properties of generalized method of moments estimators: a Monte Carlo study," Working Paper 90-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Donovan Platt, 2019. "A Comparison of Economic Agent-Based Model Calibration Methods," Papers 1902.05938, arXiv.org.
    2. Donovan Platt, 2022. "Bayesian Estimation of Economic Simulation Models Using Neural Networks," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 599-650, February.
    3. Kukacka, Jiri & Kristoufek, Ladislav, 2021. "Does parameterization affect the complexity of agent-based models?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 324-356.
    4. Platt, Donovan, 2020. "A comparison of economic agent-based model calibration methods," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    5. Zhenxi Chen & Thomas Lux, 2018. "Estimation of Sentiment Effects in Financial Markets: A Simulated Method of Moments Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 711-744, October.
    6. Tubbenhauer, Tobias & Fieberg, Christian & Poddig, Thorsten, 2021. "Multi-agent-based VaR forecasting," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea & Sani, Amir, 2018. "Agent-based model calibration using machine learning surrogates," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 366-389.
    8. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/20hflp7eqn97boh50no50tv67n is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Lamperti, Francesco & Roventini, Andrea & Sani, Amir, 2018. "Agent-based model calibration using machine learning surrogates," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 366-389.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/13thfd12aa8rmplfudlgvgahff is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Giorgio Fagiolo & Mattia Guerini & Francesco Lamperti & Alessio Moneta & Andrea Roventini, 2017. "Validation of Agent-Based Models in Economics and Finance," LEM Papers Series 2017/23, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Emanuele Ciola & Edoardo Gaffeo & Mauro Gallegati, 2021. "Search for Profits and Business Fluctuations: How Banks' Behaviour Explain Cycles?," Working Papers 450, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    13. Kukacka, Jiri & Kristoufek, Ladislav, 2020. "Do ‘complex’ financial models really lead to complex dynamics? Agent-based models and multifractality," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    14. Noemi Schmitt & Ivonne Schwartz & Frank Westerhoff, 2022. "Heterogeneous speculators and stock market dynamics: a simple agent-based computational model," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(13-15), pages 1263-1282, October.
    15. Ciola, Emanuele & Gaffeo, Edoardo & Gallegati, Mauro, 2022. "Search for profits and business fluctuations: How does banks’ behaviour explain cycles?," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    16. Kukacka, Jiri & Barunik, Jozef, 2017. "Estimation of financial agent-based models with simulated maximum likelihood," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 21-45.
    17. Kukacka, Jiri & Sacht, Stephen, 2023. "Estimation of heuristic switching in behavioral macroeconomic models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    18. Vandin, Andrea & Giachini, Daniele & Lamperti, Francesco & Chiaromonte, Francesca, 2022. "Automated and distributed statistical analysis of economic agent-based models," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    19. Andrea Vandin & Daniele Giachini & Francesco Lamperti & Francesca Chiaromonte, 2021. "Automated and Distributed Statistical Analysis of Economic Agent-Based Models," Papers 2102.05405, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    20. Kukacka, Jiri & Jang, Tae-Seok & Sacht, Stephen, 2018. "On the estimation of behavioral macroeconomic models via simulated maximum likelihood," Economics Working Papers 2018-11, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics.
    21. Elizabeth Jane Casabianca & Alessia Lo Turco & Daniela Maggioni, 2021. "Migration And The Structure Of Manufacturing Production. A View From Italian Provinces," Working Papers 448, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    22. Mario Martinoli & Alessio Moneta & Gianluca Pallante, 2022. "Calibration and Validation of Macroeconomic Simulation Models by Statistical Causal Search," LEM Papers Series 2022/33, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agent-based model; Machine learning; Simulated method of moments; Stepwise selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General
    • C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods: General
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation
    • C58 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Financial Econometrics
    • G40 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:212:y:2023:i:c:p:366-391. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.