For a long time, the main obstacle to the practical application of mathematical modeling in the economy is the filling of the developed models with concrete and qualitative information. The accuracy and completeness of primary information, the real possibilities of its collection and processing largely determine the choice of types of application models. On the other hand, studies on modeling the economy put forward new requirements for the information system.
Depending on the objects being modeled and the purpose of the models, the initial information used in them has a significantly different character and origin. It can be divided into two categories: about the past development and current state of objects (economic observations and their processing) and about the future development of objects, including data on expected changes in their internal parameters and external conditions (forecasts). The second category of information is the result of independent research, which can also be performed through modeling.
Methods of economic observation and the use of the results of these observations are developed by economic statistics. Therefore, it is worth noting only the specific problems of economic observations associated with the modeling of economic processes.
In economics, many processes are massive; they are characterized by patterns that are not detected on the basis of only one or a few observations. Therefore, modeling in the economy should be based on mass observations.
Another problem is generated by the dynamism of economic processes, the variability of their parameters and structural relations. As a result, economic processes have to be constantly kept under surveillance, it is necessary to have a steady flow of new data. Since observations of economic processes and processing of empirical data usually take quite a long time, when building mathematical models of the economy, it is necessary to adjust the initial information taking into account its delay.
Cognition of quantitative relations of economic processes and phenomena is based on economic measurements. The accuracy of measurements largely predetermines the accuracy of the final results of quantitative analysis through modeling. Therefore, a necessary condition for the effective use of mathematical modeling is the improvement of economic meters. The use of mathematical modeling has sharpened the problem of measurements and quantitative comparisons of various aspects and phenomena of socio-economic development, reliability and completeness of the data obtained, their protection from intentional and technical distortions.
In the process of modeling, there is an interaction of “primary” and “secondary” economic meters. Any model of the national economy is based on a certain system of economic measures (products, resources, elements, etc.). At the same time, one of the important results of national economic modeling is the receipt of new (secondary) economic measures – economically justified prices for products of various industries, assessments of the effectiveness of multi-quality natural resources, measures of the social utility of products. However, these meters may be influenced by insufficiently substantiated primary meters, which forces the development of a special methodology for adjusting primary meters for economic models.