diff --git a/matlab/ms-sbvar/ms_variance_decomposition.m b/matlab/ms-sbvar/ms_variance_decomposition.m
index ad71ef6abef1f6780ea37e50bda6abe9644e2edd..3a027809844c9d41dedff6dc28ff567e67ae96bc 100644
--- a/matlab/ms-sbvar/ms_variance_decomposition.m
+++ b/matlab/ms-sbvar/ms_variance_decomposition.m
@@ -57,22 +57,22 @@ if options_.ms.median
 end
 
 [err, vd] = mex_ms_variance_decomposition([opt(:)', {{'free_parameters',oo_.ms.maxparams}, ...
-    {'shocks', options_.ms.shock_draws}}]);
+    {'shocks_per_parameter', options_.ms.shock_draws}}]);
 mexErrCheck('mex_ms_variance_decomposition ergodic ', err);
 plot_ms_variance_decomposition(M_,options_,vd, 'Ergodic Variance Decomposition',options_.graph_save_formats,options_.TeX);
 
 [err, regime_vd] = mex_ms_variance_decomposition([opt(:)', {{'free_parameters',oo_.ms.maxparams}, ...
-    {'shocks', options_.ms.shock_draws}, {'regimes'}}]);
+    {'shocks_per_parameter', options_.ms.shock_draws}, {'regimes'}}]);
 mexErrCheck('mex_ms_variance_decomposition ergodic regimes', err);
 save([vddir filesep 'ergodic_vd.mat'], 'vd', 'regime_vd');
 
 if exist(options_.ms.mh_file,'file') > 0
     [err, vd] = mex_ms_variance_decomposition([opt(:)', {{'simulation_file',options_.ms.mh_file}, ...
-        {'shocks', options_.ms.shocks_per_parameter}, {'parameter_uncertainty'}}]);
+        {'shocks_per_parameter', options_.ms.shocks_per_parameter}, {'parameter_uncertainty'}}]);
     mexErrCheck('mex_ms_variance_decomposition bayesian ', err);
 
     [err, regime_vd] = mex_ms_variance_decomposition([opt(:)', {{'simulation_file',options_.ms.mh_file}, ...
-        {'shocks', options_.ms.shocks_per_parameter}, {'parameter_uncertainty'}, {'regimes'}}]);
+        {'shocks_per_parameter', options_.ms.shocks_per_parameter}, {'parameter_uncertainty'}, {'regimes'}}]);
     mexErrCheck('mex_ms_variance_decomposition bayesian regimes ', err);
     save([vddir filesep 'bayesian_vd.mat'], 'vd', 'regime_vd');
 end
diff --git a/mex/sources/ms-sbvar/mex_ms_sbvar.cc b/mex/sources/ms-sbvar/mex_ms_sbvar.cc
index e42d18420cfa70932cd42b572cb966968c6c62f7..8be9beed7bb49652be92c60fb7aade1fe91189fb 100644
--- a/mex/sources/ms-sbvar/mex_ms_sbvar.cc
+++ b/mex/sources/ms-sbvar/mex_ms_sbvar.cc
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ convert_free_parameters_to_VAR(TStateModel *model, double *free_parameters, doub
       Apply parameter uncertainty when computing error bands or median. When set,
       will default shocks = 1
 
-   'shocks' or 'shocks_per_parameter', <integer>
+   'shocks_per_parameter', <integer>
       Number of regime paths to draw for each parameter draw.  The default value
       is 1 if parameter_uncertainty is set and 10,000 otherwise.
 
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ set_options(SbvarOption *options, const mxArray *prhs[])
           }
         else
           {
-            cout << "You must pass an integer after specifying the 'shocks' option" << endl;
+            cout << "You must pass an integer after specifying the 'shocks_per_parameter' option" << endl;
             return 1;
           }
       else if (option_name == "thin")