No Arabic abstract
This paper considers time-inconsistent problems when control and stopping strategies are required to be made simultaneously (called stopping control problems by us). We first formulate the time-inconsistent stopping control problems under general multi-dimensional controlled diffusion model and propose a formal definition of their equilibriums. We show that an admissible pair $(hat{u},C)$ of control-stopping policy is equilibrium if and only if the axillary function associated to it solves the extended HJB system. We provide almost equivalent conditions to the boundary term of this extended HJB system, which is related to the celebrated smooth fitting principles. As applications of our theoretical results, we develop an investment-withdrawal decision model for time-inconsistent decision makers in infinite time horizon. We provide two concrete examples, one of which includes constant proportion investment with one side threshold withdrawal strategy as equilibrium; in another example, all strategies with constant proportion investment are proved to be irrational, no matter what the withdrawal strategy is.
In this paper we study a class of time-inconsistent terminal Markovian control problems in discrete time subject to model uncertainty. We combine the concept of the sub-game perfect strategies with the adaptive robust stochastic to tackle the theoretical aspects of the considered stochastic control problem. Consequently, as an important application of the theoretical results, by applying a machine learning algorithm we solve numerically the mean-variance portfolio selection problem under the model uncertainty.
A new definition of continuous-time equilibrium controls is introduced. As opposed to the standard definition, which involves a derivative-type operation, the new definition parallels how a discrete-time equilibrium is defined, and allows for unambiguous economic interpretation. The terms strong equilibria and weak equilibria are coined for controls under the new and the standard definitions, respectively. When the state process is a time-homogeneous continuous-time Markov chain, a careful asymptotic analysis gives complete characterizations of weak and strong equilibria. Thanks to Kakutani-Fans fixed-point theorem, general existence of weak and strong equilibria is also established, under additional compactness assumption. Our theoretic results are applied to a two-state model under non-exponential discounting. In particular, we demonstrate explicitly that there can be incentive to deviate from a weak equilibrium, which justifies the need for strong equilibria. Our analysis also provides new results for the existence and characterization of discrete-time equilibria under infinite horizon.
We consider an optimal stochastic impulse control problem over an infinite time horizon motivated by a model of irreversible investment choices with fixed adjustment costs. By employing techniques of viscosity solutions and relying on semiconvexity arguments, we prove that the value function is a classical solution to the associated quasi-variational inequality. This enables us to characterize the structure of the continuation and action regions and construct an optimal control. Finally, we focus on the linear case, discussing, by a numerical analysis, the sensitivity of the solution with respect to the relevant parameters of the problem.
This paper studies a nonzero-sum Dynkin game in discrete time under non-exponential discounting. For both players, there are two levels of game-theoretic reasoning intertwined. First, each player looks for an intra-personal equilibrium among her current and future selves, so as to resolve time inconsistency triggered by non-exponential discounting. Next, given the other players chosen stopping policy, each player selects a best response among her intra-personal equilibria. A resulting inter-personal equilibrium is then a Nash equilibrium between the two players, each of whom employs her best intra-personal equilibrium with respect to the other players stopping policy. Under appropriate conditions, we show that an inter-personal equilibrium exists, based on concrete iterative procedures along with Zorns lemma. To illustrate our theoretic results, we investigate a two-player real options valuation problem: two firms negotiate a deal of cooperation to initiate a project jointly. By deriving inter-personal equilibria explicitly, we find that coercive power in negotiation depends crucially on the impatience levels of the two firms.
This paper analyzes a class of infinite-time-horizon stochastic games with singular controls motivated from the partially reversible problem. It provides an explicit solution for the mean-field game (MFG) and presents sensitivity analysis to compare the solution for the MFG with that for the single-agent control problem. It shows that in the MFG, model parameters not only affect the optimal strategies as in the single-agent case, but also influence the equilibrium price. It then establishes that the solution to the MFG is an $epsilon$-Nash Equilibrium to the corresponding $N$-player game, with $epsilon=Oleft(frac{1}{sqrt N}right)$.