Have just updated to version 1.1. It is a major change and breaks compatibility with version 1. The major change is in how the VFI Toolkit handles parameters.

Parameters should now be declared as a structure, and the names of relevant parameters passed to functions. For basic models this will appear to complicate things slightly. The advantages come in making modifications to which parameters are used (now easy), in making changes to more advanced models (now easier). It makes the use of fixed type and age dependent parameters (for fixed type and finite horizon codes that are presently under development) much easier.

Essentially the key is that you should now declare model parameters as a structure, eg.
Parameters.beta=0.96;
Parameters.alpha=0.36;
Parameters.delta=0.08;
When you want to then, eg., solve a value function you simply send it Parameters as well as a list of the names parameters that are relevant, in this case those in the return function, eg. ReturnFnParamNames={‘alpha’,’delta’}. Same thing for DiscountFactorParamNames={‘beta’}.

All of the toolkit examples and replications have been updated to work with this version. Looking at these is the best way to see how this works.

By treating parameters in this way you can easily keep track of all of the models parameters. The advantages in more advanced models come as you don’t have to update any vectors when you add or remove parameters. Since all parameters are now tracked by name (rather than index) the Toolkit always knows which parameter values you want.