Replication Code for Lester (2026) Rational Foreclosure Model

Ryan Lester's replication code bundle for the paper 'Rational Foreclosure: A Stochastic Reference Point Model of Aspirational Abandonment under Positional Drift'. The bundle includes a Python boundary value problem solver, three calibrated parameter sets, and scripts to reproduce Figure 1 and verify six theorems. The code is released under the MIT License and was last updated on April 20, 2026.

Use Cases

• Reproduce numerical claims from Lester (2026) based on the provided Python solver and scripts.
• Verify the volatility-delay theorem based on the comparative statics script.
• Generate Figure 1 of the paper based on the reproduction script.
• Explore the free-boundary problem of Section 3 based on the boundary value problem solver.
• Test model behavior across low, moderate, and high-volatility regimes based on the three calibrated parameter sets.

Strengths

• Includes a reproduction script that regenerates Figure 1 with all six panels in approximately 17 seconds.
• Contains a comparative statics script that verifies the signs of all six theorems in Section 5.
• Provides three calibrated parameter sets spanning low-volatility, moderate, and high-volatility regimes.
• Full documentation is provided in the README, including a quick-start section and verification instructions.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The bundle contains replication code; the underlying data used for calibration is not included.

Provenance

Source

Ryan Lester, University of Houston

Collection Method

Generated as part of academic research and replication.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 18:41:15