initval_file — use an external to specify a path for exogenous and endogenous variables in a deterministic simulation
initval_file
(filename
= FILENAME
) ;
In a deterministic setup, this command is used to specify a path for all endogenous and exogenous variables. The length of these paths must be equal to the number of simulation periods, plus the number of leads and the number of lags of the model (for example, with 50 simulation periods, in a model with 2 lags and 1 lead, the paths must have a length of 53). Note that these paths cover two different things:
the constraints of the problem, which are given by the path for exogenous and the initial and terminal values for endogenous
the initial guess for the non-linear solver, which is given by the path for endogenous variables for the simulation periods (excluding initial and terminal conditions)
The command accepts three file formats:
M-file (extension .m
): for each endogenous and exogenous variable, the file must contain a row vector of the same name
MAT-file (extension .mat
): same as for M-files
Excel file (extension .xls
): for each endogenous and exogenous, the file must contain a column of the same name
The extension must be omitted in the command argument. Dynare will automatically figure out the extension and select the appropriate file type.