Related papers: Scalable Principal-Agent Contract Design via Gradi…
A principal delegates a project to a team $S$ from a pool of $n$ agents. The project's value if all agents in $S$ exert costly effort is $f(S)$. To incentivize the agents to participate, the principal assigns each agent $i\in S$ a share…
In this paper, we aim to solve a distributed optimization problem with affine coupling constraints in a multi-agent network, where the cost function of the agents is composed of smooth and possibly non-smooth parts. To solve this problem,…
We consider cooperative multi-agent consensus optimization problems over an undirected network of agents, where only those agents connected by an edge can directly communicate. The objective is to minimize the sum of agent-specific…
This paper presents a special type of distributed optimization problems, where the summation of agents' local cost functions (i.e., global cost function) is convex, but each individual can be non-convex. Unlike most distributed optimization…
Hyperparameter optimization in machine learning is often achieved using naive techniques that only lead to an approximate set of hyperparameters. Although techniques such as Bayesian optimization perform an intelligent search on a given…
In this work, we consider solving a distributed optimization problem in a multi-agent network with multiple clusters. In each cluster, the involved agents cooperatively optimize a separable composite function with a common decision…
Bilevel optimization has arisen as a powerful tool in modern machine learning. However, due to the nested structure of bilevel optimization, even gradient-based methods require second-order derivative approximations via Jacobian- or/and…
This paper analyzes a two-timescale stochastic algorithm framework for bilevel optimization. Bilevel optimization is a class of problems which exhibit a two-level structure, and its goal is to minimize an outer objective function with…
Gradient-based learning in multi-agent systems is difficult because the gradient derives from a first-order model which does not account for the interaction between agents' learning processes. LOLA (arXiv:1709.04326) accounts for this by…
Recent technology advances have enabled firms to flexibly process and analyze sophisticated employee performance data at a reduced and yet significant cost. We develop a theory of optimal incentive contracting where the monitoring…
Feedback optimization is an increasingly popular control paradigm to optimize dynamical systems, accounting for control objectives that concern the system operation at steady-state. Existing feedback optimization techniques heavily rely on…
We study a class of cooperative multi-agent optimization problems, where each agent is associated with a local action vector and a local cost, and the goal is to cooperatively find the joint action profile that minimizes the average of the…
We propose a neural network approach for solving high-dimensional optimal control problems. In particular, we focus on multi-agent control problems with obstacle and collision avoidance. These problems immediately become high-dimensional,…
Hyper-parameter optimization is one of the most tedious yet crucial steps in training machine learning models. There are numerous methods for this vital model-building stage, ranging from domain-specific manual tuning guidelines suggested…
This paper studies optimal contract design in private market investing, focusing on internal decision making in venture capital and private equity firms. A principal relies on an agent who privately exerts costly due diligence effort and…
Multilevel optimization has gained renewed interest in machine learning due to its promise in applications such as hyperparameter tuning and continual learning. However, existing methods struggle with the inherent difficulty of efficiently…
We propose new sequential simulation-optimization algorithms for general convex optimization via simulation problems with high-dimensional discrete decision space. The performance of each choice of discrete decision variables is evaluated…
Partially Controlled Multi-Agent Systems (PCMAS) are comprised of controllable agents, managed by a system designer, and uncontrollable agents, operating autonomously. This study addresses an optimal composition design problem in PCMAS,…
Despite the success of demand response programs in retail electricity markets in reducing average consumption, the random responsiveness of consumers to price event makes their efficiency questionable to achieve the flexibility needed for…
We consider the profit-maximization problem solved by an electricity retailer who aims at designing a menu of contracts. This is an extension of the unit-demand envy-free pricing problem: customers aim to choose a contract maximizing their…