Microsimulation and public policy 
22 February 2012
4-5pm
Venue: Room 104, Pacific Fale Building ground floor, 20 Wynyard Street
Host: Martin Spielauer, Senior Researcher, Modelling Division, Statistics Canada
On behalf of Professor Peter Davis and the Research team at COMPASS I would like to invite you to a seminar
Microsimulation and public policy. Issues and prospects
Microsimulation is currently experiencing a boom which is driven by three main forces: increased demand of policymakers for detailed projections and models; the emergence of new research paradigms with an increased emphasis on individuals within their context; and, technological advances. In this seminar I will first introduce policy microsimulation by presenting its main underlying ideas and its history. I will then outline the way in which we in Statistics Canada have pioneered the application of microsimulation to policy questions, and discuss various examples. Finally, I will look to the future of the field. Is it destined to be one for the ad hoc application of techniques creating niche products or dubious black box models applicable only with caution where other methods are not available? Or will microsimulation find its way into the methodological toolbox of mainstream social scientists with some prospects for self-sustaining scientific progress?
Speaker bio:
Martin Spielauer is an expert in demographic and socio-economic microsimulation with more than 10 years of experience in microsimulation modelling and the management of microsimulation projects. As Senior Researcher at Statistics Canada, Martin Spielauer leads the development, updating and documentation of various microsimulation modules of the Canadian socio-economic model LifePaths. He is also engaged in various inter-governmental and academic collaborations, currently providing expert advice and consultancy services in projects in Spain, Slovenia, Austria, the US, and New Zealand. Martin Spielauer has published extensively both in peer-reviewed journals as well as publications of government and international agencies including Statistics Canada, the United Nations, the European Commission and the Asian Development Bank.
Please RSVP to Tom Crick - t.crick@auckland.ac.nz for catering purposes.
