A maximum entropy network reconstruction of macroeconomic models

Abstract

In this article the problem of reconstructing the pattern of connection between agents from partial empirical data in a macro-economic model is addressed, given a set of behavioral equations. This systemic point of view puts the focus on distributional and network effects, rather than time-dependence. Using the theory of complex networks we compare several models to reconstruct both the topology and the flows of money of the different types of monetary transactions, while imposing a series of constraints related to national accounts, and to empirical network sparsity. Some properties of reconstructed networks are compared with their empirical counterpart.