Program Schedule

10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Introduction
Speaker: Toni Whited, University of Michigan

Topics:
What is structural estimation?
What does structural estimation buy you? When is it needed?
Motivating a structural estimation paper

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch
Lunch will be on your own. A list of local restaurants will be provided. 

1:00-3:00 p.m. Solving Models (Part 1)
Speaker:  Stephen Terry, University of Michigan

Topics:
Discrete-time dynamic programming
Value function iteration
Simulation

3:00-3:10 p.m. Afternoon Break

3:10-6:30 p.m. Project Part 1

6:30-8:00 p.m. Welcome Reception 

8:30 p.m.-Late: Project Work
Participants will work on the first part of the project. The goal for day one is to numerically solve the model and describe the optimal policies. Faculty and assistants will be on hand to help.

Day 2 – Tuesday, July 29, 2025

8:30-9:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast

9:30-11:30 a.m. Solving Models (Part 2)
Speaker:  Stephen Terry, University of Michigan

Topics:
Advanced topics on dynamic programming
Efficient computing

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Project Check-In
Speaker: Stephen Terry, University of Michigan

We will use these check-in sessions to present a solution to the previous day’s work, discuss challenges people had, and show some tricks of the trade. We will also use these sessions to present a set of solution code. By the end of the week, participants will have not only their own code but also this set of solution code that can be adapted for future projects.

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch 
Lunch will be on your own. A list of local restaurants will be provided. 

1:00-3:00 p.m. Simulation Estimators (Part 1)
Speaker: Toni Whited, University of Michigan

Topics:
SMM algorithm
Assessing model fit
Heterogeneity
Searching the parameter space
Identification challenges

3:00-3:10 p.m. Afternoon Break

3:10-6:30 p.m. Project Part 2
The goal for day two is to develop an identification strategy, choose moments, and write code for computing the moments in both the actual and simulated data.

6:30-8:30 p.m. Dinner
Dinner will be on your own. A list of local restaurants will be provided. 

8:30 p.m.-Late: Project Work

Day 3 – Wednesday, July 30, 2025

8:30-9:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast

9:30-10:00 a.m. Project Check-In
Speaker: Luke Taylor, University of Pennsylvania

10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Simulation Estimators (Part 2)
Speaker: Toni Whited, University of Michigan

Topics/Goals:
Practical advice
Introduction to weight matrices
Influence functions
Getting the standard errors right

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch 
Lunch will be on your own. A list of local restaurants will be provided. 

1:00-3:00 p.m. Simulation Estimators (Part 3)
Speaker: Toni Whited, University of Michigan

Topics/Goals:
Discussion of applied papers

3:00-3:10 p.m. Afternoon Break

3:10-6:30 p.m. Project Part 3
The goal for day three will be to estimate the covariance matrix of empirical moments using influence functions, compute the optimal weight matrix, and start coding up the SMM estimator.

6:30-8:30 p.m. Dinner
Dinner will be on your own. A list of local restaurants will be provided.

8:30 p.m.-Late: Project Work

Day 4 – Thursday, July 31, 2025

8:30-9:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast

9:30-11:30 a.m. Literature Review
Speaker:  Luke Taylor, University of Pennsylvania

We will start with a broad review of the literature, and then we’ll do an in-depth discussion of a few papers. The goals will be to understand what has already been done, why structural estimation is needed in these papers, and how to best position a structural estimation paper.

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Project Wrap Up
Speaker:  Luke Taylor, University of Pennsylvania

12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch 
Lunch will be on your own. A list of local restaurants will be provided. 

1:30-4:30 p.m. Project Part 4
Goals: Finish coding up the SMM estimator, using simulated annealing to search the parameter space. Also code up the test of over-identifying restrictions and counterfactual analyses.