The Microsimulation Tool of the MicMac-Project

We describe the microsimulation tool MicCore that was developed in the project “MicMac – bridging the micro-macro gap in population forecasting”. Based on a generic continuous-time multistate model with ageand calendar time-specific transition rates the MicCore was implemented as a plug-in to JAMES II, a general modelling and simulation environment. We outline the general software considerations and the specific implementation steps, illustrate the tool by an example, and discuss future extensions of the MicCore. 1 The MicMac-Project In this paper we describe the microsimulation software, which was developped in the project “MicMac – Bridging the micro-macro gap in population forecasting”. This project was funded by the European Commission under the 6 Framework Programme from 2005– 2009. It is an interdisciplinary effort of a consortium of eight European research institutes under the leadership of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), including not only demographers, but also economists, sociologists, health experts and statisticians. 1.1 Aims of MicMac The aim of the MicMac-project was to offer a bridge between aggregate projections of cohorts (Mac) and projections of the life courses of individual cohort members (Mic). Despite The other members of the consortium are: Vienna Institute of Demography, Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED), Bocconi University, Erasmus Medical Centre Rotterdam, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, and University of Rostock.