diff --git a/matlab/get_file_extension.m b/matlab/get_file_extension.m
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f160ba0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/matlab/get_file_extension.m
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+function ext = get_file_extension(file)
+
+% returns the extension of a file.
+%
+% INPUTS 
+%  o file      string, name of the file
+%
+% OUTPUTS 
+%  o ext       string, extension.
+%
+% REMARKS 
+%  If the provided file name has no extension, the routine will return an empty array.
+    
+% Copyright (C) 2013 Dynare Team
+%
+% This file is part of Dynare.
+%
+% Dynare is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+% it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+% the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+% (at your option) any later version.
+%
+% Dynare is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+% but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+% MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+% GNU General Public License for more details.
+%
+% You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+% along with Dynare.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+remain = file;
+while ~isempty(remain)
+    [ext, remain] = strtok(remain,'.');
+end
+
+if strcmp(ext,file)
+    ext = [];
+end
\ No newline at end of file