Ulf Friedrich - Improving the household-dwelling allocation in a dynamic microsimulation model

• Presenting author: Ulf Friedrich (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg)

• Authors: Ulf Friedrich, Lucas Moschen, Ralf Münnich, Martin Schmidt

• Session: A02D - Spatial - Monday 16:30-18:00 - Erika-Weinzierl Hall

Microsimulation models have emerged as powerful tools for evaluating the impact of societal changes, such as those in the health sector, economy, and social policy. In line with this, researchers in the ongoing research project MikroSim are developing a dynamic spatial microsimulation model for Germany. A crucial component within this model is the allocation of households to specific dwellings at the municipal level, based on geographic coordinates. We address various aspects of the household-dwelling allocation problem. Specifically, we demonstrate how incorporating information from household and dwelling datasets can enhance the statistical reliability of the allocation process. Our model tackles a challenging combinatorial optimization problem, which is typically too large to be solved with standard Branch&Bound solvers. To overcome this, we propose an innovative algorithm that combines problem decomposition with a penalty approach for certain constraints. This novel algorithm is capable of efficiently solving large problem instances and computational tests confirm the high quality of the computed allocation.