The SMILE model: Construction and calibration

In the previous chapter we reviewed the use of spatial microsimulation models for policy analysis and reviewed the type of applications for which the methodology has been employed. In the absence of spatially representative micro-data in Ireland, we require a technique for generating this data and hence the microsimulation model. In this chapter we describe a number of methodologies for doing this and evaluate the performance of methods chosen for our ‘Simulation Model of the Irish Local Economy’ (SMILE). To recap, the primary focus of the SMILE framework is to assess the socio-economic impacts of policy or economic changes. The motivation for the model is to assess the impact of these changes in the context of agricultural, rural and environmental policy in addition to the more standard analysis of economic and social policy change.