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We consider a continuous time Principal-Agent model on a finite time horizon, where we look for the existence of an optimal contract both parties agreed on. Contrary to the main stream, where the principal is modelled as risk-neutral, we…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-06-06 Kerem Ugurlu

Combinatorial contracts are emerging as a key paradigm in algorithmic contract design, paralleling the role of combinatorial auctions in algorithmic mechanism design. In this paper we study natural combinatorial contract settings involving…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2024-05-15 Paul Duetting , Tomer Ezra , Michal Feldman , Thomas Kesselheim

We study a two-period moral hazard problem; there are two agents, with action sets that are unknown to the principal. The principal contracts with each agent sequentially, and seeks to maximize the worst-case discounted sum of payoffs,…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2024-02-15 Chang Liu

In this paper, we initiate the computational problem of jointly designing information and contracts. We consider three possible classes of contracts with decreasing flexibility and increasing simplicity: ambiguous contracts, menus of…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2024-07-09 Matteo Castiglioni , Junjie Chen

This paper studies a class of multiagent stochastic optimization problems where the objective is to minimize the expected value of a function which depends on a random variable. The probability distribution of the random variable is unknown…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-12-18 Ashish Cherukuri , Jorge Cortes

We study nonconvex distributed optimization in multiagent networks where the communications between nodes is modeled as a time-varying sequence of arbitrary digraphs. We introduce a novel broadcast-based distributed algorithmic framework…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2016-12-16 Ying Sun , Gesualdo Scutari , Daniel Palomar

In this paper, we consider a network capacity expansion problem in the context of telecommunication networks, where there is uncertainty associated with the expected traffic demand. We employ a distributionally robust stochastic…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2020-04-10 Trivikram Dokka , Francis Garuba , Marc Goerigk , Peter Jacko

We study principal-agent problems in which a principal commits to an outcome-dependent payment scheme -- called contract -- in order to induce an agent to take a costly, unobservable action leading to favorable outcomes. We consider a…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2024-06-10 Francesco Bacchiocchi , Matteo Castiglioni , Alberto Marchesi , Nicola Gatti

This article introduces a decentralized robust optimization framework for safe multi-agent control under uncertainty. Although stochastic noise has been the primary form of modeling uncertainty in such systems, these formulations might fall…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-08-19 Arshiya Taj Abdul , Augustinos D. Saravanos , Evangelos A. Theodorou

A principal provides nondiscriminatory incentives for independent and identical agents. The principal cannot observe the agents' actions, nor does she know the entire set of actions available to them. It is shown, very generally, that any…

Theoretical Economics · Economics 2024-01-31 Ashwin Kambhampati

In this article, we employ a principal-agent model to analyze optimal contract design in a monopolistic reinsurance market under adverse selection with a continuum of insurer types. Instead of using the classical expected utility framework,…

Risk Management · Quantitative Finance 2026-01-06 Ka Chun Cheung , Sheung Chi Phillip Yam , Fei Lung Yuen , Yiying Zhang

We study a Bayesian contract design problem in which a principal interacts with an unknown agent. We consider the single-parameter uncertainty model introduced by Alon et al. [2021], in which the agent's type is described by a single…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-02-21 Martino Bernasconi , Matteo Castiglioni , Andrea Celli

We investigate approximately optimal mechanisms in settings where bidders' utility functions are non-linear; specifically, convex, with respect to payments (such settings arise, for instance, in procurement auctions for energy). We provide…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2017-02-23 Amy Greenwald , Takehiro Oyakawa , Vasilis Syrgkanis

Algorithmic contract design studies scenarios where a principal incentivizes an agent to exert effort on her behalf. In this work, we focus on settings where the agent's type is drawn from an unknown distribution, and formalize an offline…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-01-27 Paul Duetting , Michal Feldman , Tomasz Ponitka , Ermis Soumalias

We show that, in many settings, the worst-case performance of a distributed optimization algorithm is independent of the number of agents in the system, and can thus be computed in the fundamental case with just two agents. This result…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-11-03 Sebastien Colla , Julien M. Hendrickx

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

We consider a distributionally robust formulation of stochastic optimization problems arising in statistical learning, where robustness is with respect to uncertainty in the underlying data distribution. Our formulation builds on…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-06-09 Mert Gürbüzbalaban , Andrzej Ruszczyński , Landi Zhu

We propose a distributionally robust formulation of the traditional risk parity portfolio optimization problem. Distributional robustness is introduced by targeting the discrete probabilities attached to each observation used during…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2021-10-14 Giorgio Costa , Roy H. Kwon

Robust PCA has drawn significant attention in the last decade due to its success in numerous application domains, ranging from bio-informatics, statistics, and machine learning to image and video processing in computer vision. Robust PCA…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-06-12 Shiqian Ma , Necdet Serhat Aybat

This paper proposes a method to design an optimal dynamic contract between a principal and an agent, who has the authority to control both the principal's revenue and an engineered system. The key characteristic of our problem setting is…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2014-03-24 Insoon Yang , Duncan S. Callaway , Claire J. Tomlin