This is the complete set of papers on the Swedish micro-to-macro model presented at the conference on micro simulation models, arranged jointly by the IUI and IBM Sweden, September 19-22, 1977. To our knowledge this is the first international seminar devoted to micro based models of entire economic systems. The papers on the Swedish model have been in print for more than a year (IUI Conference Report 1978:1). They appear again in this book with some technical parts excluded.
We believe that this publication gives a fairly representative picture of the state of the art at the time of the conference. Micro simulation as an empirical method is fairly new to economics. Micro theory and macro theory with applications have always coexisted in economics but systematic integration of the two branches through explicit market modeling has been attempted only recently. It is a mathematically and technically difficult area and the approaches still differ considerably. It offers new and promising possibilities in developing theory and empirical testing in a much more parallel fashion than has been the case earlier.
We are happy to present this volume on a theme that we believe will be of rapidly growing importance in the future.
