No Arabic abstract
In the context of simple finite-state discrete time systems, we introduce a generalization of mean field game solution, called correlated solution, which can be seen as the mean field game analogue of a correlated equilibrium. Our notion of solution is justified in two ways: We prove that correlated solutions arise as limits of exchangeable correlated equilibria in restricted (Markov open-loop) strategies for the underlying $N$-player games, and we show how to construct approximate $N$-player correlated equilibria starting from a correlated solution to the mean field game.
Mean field games are concerned with the limit of large-population stochastic differential games where the agents interact through their empirical distribution. In the classical setting, the number of players is large but fixed throughout the game. However, in various applications, such as population dynamics or economic growth, the number of players can vary across time which may lead to different Nash equilibria. For this reason, we introduce a branching mechanism in the population of agents and obtain a variation on the mean field game problem. As a first step, we study a simple model using a PDE approach to illustrate the main differences with the classical setting. We prove existence of a solution and show that it provides an approximate Nash-equilibrium for large population games. We also present a numerical example for a linear--quadratic model. Then we study the problem in a general setting by a probabilistic approach. It is based upon the relaxed formulation of stochastic control problems which allows us to obtain a general existence result.
This paper considers mean field games in a multi-agent Markov decision process (MDP) framework. Each player has a continuum state and binary action, and benefits from the improvement of the condition of the overall population. Based on an infinite horizon discounted individual cost, we show existence of a stationary equilibrium, and prove its uniqueness under a positive externality condition. We further analyze comparative statics of the stationary equilibrium by quantitatively determining the impact of the effort cost.
This paper studies Mean Field Games with a common noise given by a continuous time Markov chain under a Quadratic cost structure. The theory implies that the optimal path under the equilibrium is a Gaussian process conditional on the common noise. Interestingly, it reveals the Markovian structure of the random equilibrium measure flow, which can be characterized via a deterministic finite dimensional system.
This paper studies an asymptotic solvability problem for linear quadratic (LQ) mean field games with controlled diffusions and indefinite weights for the state and control in the costs. We employ a rescaling approach to derive a low dimensional Riccati ordinary differential equation (ODE) system, which characterizes a necessary and sufficient condition for asymptotic solvability. The rescaling technique is further used for performance estimates, establishing an $O(1/N)$-Nash equilibrium for the obtained decentralized strategies.
We propose a mean field game model to study the question of how centralization of reward and computational power occur in the Bitcoin-like cryptocurrencies. Miners compete against each other for mining rewards by increasing their computational power. This leads to a novel mean field game of jump intensity control, which we solve explicitly for miners maximizing exponential utility, and handle numerically in the case of miners with power utilities. We show that the heterogeneity of their initial wealth distribution leads to greater imbalance of the reward distribution, or a rich get richer effect. This concentration phenomenon is aggravated by a higher bitcoin price, and reduced by competition. Additionally, an advanced miner with cost advantages such as access to cheaper electricity, contributes a significant amount of computational power in equilibrium. Hence, cost efficiency can also result in the type of centralization seen among miners of cryptocurrencies.