Optimal Control Model of Technology Transition

This paper discusses the use of optimization software to solve an optimal control problem arising in the modeling of technology transition. We set up a series of increasingly complex models with such features as learning-by-doing, adjustment cost, and capital investment. The models are written in continuous time and then discretized by using different methods to transform them into large-scale nonlinear programs. We use a modeling language and numerical optimization methods to solve the optimization problem. Our results are consistent with findings in the literature and highlight the impact the discretization choice has on the solution and accuracy.