Kerk L. Phillips

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208043. This paper introduces a new model of sleep for mammals. It extends the classic ‘two-process’ model of sleep to account for differences in external circumstances. We apply this model to previously-collected data on elephants and sloths, comparing sleep patterns in the wild with sleep patterns in captivity. We find that the model does very well in explaining sleeping patterns for both types of animals, in both the captive state and in the wild state.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jedc.2018.08.003 This paper uses a single-sector dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model to analyze time use patterns over the business cycle. Using data from the American Time Use Survey, we solve and simulate a model of a utility maximizing consumer subject to a penalty function based on a biological model for sleep. We find that sleep is countercyclical with the business cycle: sleep increases as economic activity declines. We also show that our model provides a reasonable estimate of observed sleep behavior over the period from 2003 through 2016. Our results suggest that separating sleep from other non-work activities is a useful and productive exercise for these types of models.