MPSGE in Julia: Bringing Open-Source and Efficient Computation to concise CGE Model formation

Abstract

This paper introduces MPSGE.jl, a free and open-source package in Julia that facilitates CGE model building from tabular definitions. The package’s programmatically generated equations reduce redundant and repetitive code, errors, and development time. The built-in functions simplify troubleshooting, analysis, and reports. Embedding within a general-use scientific language enables streamlined integration with general-use functions and tools. The design combines computational efficiency with intuitive syntax and model formation. The open-source foundation allows for greater access, and user contributions to ongoing development. This work is a contribution to the open-science movement, with the aim of increasing access, robustness, transparency, and collaboration. We give an overview of how to use the package, its construction, and highlight some of its features. We include example models of different forms and scale as illustrations. First, we employ a simple toy model to introduce the basic structure. Then, we illustrate how the flexibility of MPSGE in Julia can facilitate functionality not possible in the GAMS progenitor. With a third example model, we demonstrate the package used at scale by evaluating tariff effects using a model with five household types for each U.S. state. We link to the package and its documentation for further reading and utilization.