English
Related papers

Related papers: Time-inconsistent contract theory

200 papers

We consider the principal-agent problem with heterogeneous agents. Previous works assume that the principal signs independent incentive contracts with every agent to make them invest more efforts on the tasks. However, in many…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2019-11-12 Shenke Xiao , Zihe Wang , Mengjing Chen , Pingzhong Tang , Xiwang Yang

In this paper, we investigate dynamic optimization problems featuring both stochastic control and optimal stopping in a finite time horizon. The paper aims to develop new methodologies, which are significantly different from those of mixed…

Portfolio Management · Quantitative Finance 2014-06-27 Xiongfei Jian , Xun Li , Fahuai Yi

We study the optimal portfolio liquidation problem over a finite horizon in a limit order book with bid-ask spread and temporary market price impact penalizing speedy execution trades. We use a continuous-time modeling framework, but in…

Probability · Mathematics 2014-01-10 Idris Kharroubi , Huyen Pham

We study the combinatorial contract design problem, introduced and studied by Dutting et. al. (2021, 2022), in both the single and multi-agent settings. Prior work has examined the problem when the principal's utility function is submodular…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2023-08-16 Ramiro Deo-Campo Vuong , Shaddin Dughmi , Neel Patel , Aditya Prasad

We consider the problem of estimating the possibly non-convex cost of an agent by observing its interactions with a nonlinear, non-stationary and stochastic environment. For this inverse problem, we give a result that allows to estimate the…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-07-24 Émiland Garrabé , Hozefa Jesawada , Carmen Del Vecchio , Giovanni Russo

This paper is concerned with a time-inconsistent stochastic optimal control problem in an infinite time horizon with a non-degenerate diffusion in the state equation. A major assumption is that people become rational after a large time.…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-09-19 Qingmeng Wei , Jiongmin Yong

We consider a moral hazard problem with multiple principals in a continuous-time model. The agent can only work exclusively for one principal at a given time, so faces an optimal switching problem. Using a randomized formulation, we manage…

Probability · Mathematics 2022-09-14 Kaitong Hu , Zhenjie Ren , Junjian Yang

In this paper we provide an alternative framework to tackle the first-best Principal-Agent problem under CARA utilities. This framework leads to both a proof of existence and uniqueness of the solution to the Risk-Sharing problem under very…

Risk Management · Quantitative Finance 2019-12-18 Jessica Martin , Anthony Réveillac

A principal contracts with an agent who sequentially searches over projects to generate a prize. The principal initially knows only one of the agent's available projects and evaluates a contract by its worst-case performance. We…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2025-09-17 Théo Durandard , Udayan Vaidya , Boli Xu

We introduce a novel model of contracts with combinatorial actions that accounts for sequential and adaptive agent behavior. As in the standard model, a principal delegates the execution of a costly project to an agent. There are $n$…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-04-22 Tomer Ezra , Michal Feldman , Maya Schlesinger

The minimization of energy-like cost functionals is addressed in the context of optimal control problems. For a general class of dynamical systems, with possibly unstable and nonlinear free dynamics, it is shown that a sequence of solutions…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-12-06 Sérgio S. Rodrigues

This paper considers the portfolio management problem of optimal investment, consumption and life insurance. We are concerned with time inconsistency of optimal strategies. Natural assumptions, like different discount rates for consumption…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2011-07-25 Ivar Ekeland , Oumar Mbodji , Traian A. Pirvu

This paper studies a dynamic optimal reinsurance and dividend-payout problem for an insurance company in a finite time horizon. The goal of the company is to maximize the expected cumulative discounted dividend payouts until bankruptcy or…

Mathematical Finance · Quantitative Finance 2022-06-28 Chonghu Guan , Zuo Quan Xu , Rui Zhou

We study optimal contract design for large populations of heterogeneous agents whose actions generate network spillovers represented by an interaction function. In a linear-quadratic framework, we solve the finite-agent problem and its…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2026-05-19 Guillermo Alonso Alvarez , Erhan Bayraktar , Ibrahim Ekren

Firms have access to abundant data on market participants. They use these data to target contracts to agents with specific characteristics, and describe these contracts in opaque terms. In response to such practices, recent proposed…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2023-02-01 Andreas Haupt , Zoe Hitzig

We study a principal-agent problem with adverse selection, where the principal does not know the agent's true cost but must design a contract to optimize a specific criterion. Unlike standard screening frameworks that allow for…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2026-05-19 Guillermo Alonso Alvarez , Ibrahim Ekren , Liwei Huang

In a framework close to the one developed by Holmstr\"om and Milgrom [44], we study the optimal contracting scheme between a Principal and several Agents. Each hired Agent is in charge of one project, and can make efforts towards managing…

Economics · Quantitative Finance 2016-05-27 Romuald Elie , Dylan Possamaï

In this paper we study a robust utility maximization problem in continuous time under model uncertainty. The model uncertainty is governed by a continuous semimartingale with uncertain local characteristics. Here, the differential…

Mathematical Finance · Quantitative Finance 2023-08-04 David Criens , Lars Niemann

This paper investigates Pareto optimal (PO, for short) insurance contracts in a behavioral finance framework, in which the insured evaluates contracts by the rank-dependent utility (RDU) theory and the insurer by the expected value premium…

Mathematical Finance · Quantitative Finance 2021-08-17 Zuo Quan Xu

This paper studies contracting in the presence of externalities with a non-contractible outsider. Multiple equilibria arise from strategic symmetry between the insider agent and the outsider. To address strategic uncertainty, the principal…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2025-09-09 Hongcheng Li