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In this paper, we study the global convergence of model-based and model-free policy gradient descent and natural policy gradient descent algorithms for linear quadratic deep structured teams. In such systems, agents are partitioned into a…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2020-12-16 Vida Fathi , Jalal Arabneydi , Amir G. Aghdam

Communication is fundamental to sustaining reciprocity and cooperation in strategic interactions. We identify and formulate the influence attribution problem as the central optimization difficulty inherent in such dynamics for a learning…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-05-12 Yue Lin , Pascal Poupart , Shuhui Zhu , Dan Qiao , Wenhao Li , Yuan Liu , Hongyuan Zha , Baoxiang Wang

Achieving and maintaining cooperation between agents to accomplish a common objective is one of the central goals of Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL). Nevertheless in many real-world scenarios, separately trained and specialized…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2023-03-07 Bengisu Guresti , Abdullah Vanlioglu , Nazim Kemal Ure

We study a decision-maker's problem of finding optimal monetary incentive schemes for retention when faced with agents whose participation decisions (stochastically) depend on the incentive they receive. Our focus is on policies constrained…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2024-07-31 Daniel Freund , Chamsi Hssaine

In recent years, federated learning has been embraced as an approach for bringing about collaboration across large populations of learning agents. However, little is known about how collaboration protocols should take agents' incentives…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-03-05 Avrim Blum , Nika Haghtalab , Richard Lanas Phillips , Han Shao

In this paper we investigate the computational complexity of motivating time-inconsistent agents to complete long term projects. We resort to an elegant graph-theoretic model, introduced by Kleinberg and Oren, which consists of a task graph…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2016-01-05 Susanne Albers , Dennis Kraft

Learning in games provides a powerful framework to design control policies for self-interested agents that may be coupled through their dynamics, costs, or constraints. We consider the case where the dynamics of the coupled system can be…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2024-09-18 Mostafa M. Shibl , Vijay Gupta

Multi-agent games in dynamic nonlinear settings are challenging due to the time-varying interactions among the agents and the non-stationarity of the (potential) Nash equilibria. In this paper we consider model-free games, where agent…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2025-09-24 Eduardo Sebastián , Maitrayee Keskar , Eeman Iqbal , Eduardo Montijano , Carlos Sagüés , Nikolay Atanasov

We develop an algorithm that combines model-based and model-free methods for solving a nonlinear optimal control problem with a quadratic cost in which the system model is given by a linear state-space model with a small additive nonlinear…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2022-03-23 Yansong Li , Shuo Han

We investigate the mechanism design problem faced by a principal who hires \emph{multiple} agents to gather and report costly information. Then, the principal exploits the information to make an informed decision. We model this problem as a…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2023-07-13 Federico Cacciamani , Matteo Castiglioni , Nicola Gatti

Time-inconsistency refers to a paradox in decision making where agents exhibit inconsistent behaviors over time. Examples are procrastination where agents tends to costly postpone easy tasks, and abandonments where agents start a plan and…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2015-04-03 Pingzhong Tang , Yifeng Teng , Zihe Wang , Shenke Xiao , Yichong Xu

Imitation is widely observed in populations of decision-making agents. Using our recent convergence results for asynchronous imitation dynamics on networks, we consider how such networks can be efficiently driven to a desired equilibrium…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2017-04-17 James Riehl , Pouria Ramazi , Ming Cao

We study a bilevel \emph{max-max} optimization framework for principal-agent contract design, in which a principal chooses incentives to maximize utility while anticipating the agent's best response. This problem, central to moral hazard…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-10-27 Tomer Galanti , Aarya Bookseller , Korok Ray

Motivated by applications to online advertising and recommender systems, we consider a game-theoretic model with delayed rewards and asynchronous, payoff-based feedback. In contrast to previous work on delayed multi-armed bandits, we focus…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2020-06-22 Amélie Héliou , Panayotis Mertikopoulos , Zhengyuan Zhou

In social decision-making among strategic agents, a universal focus lies on the balance between social and individual interests. Socially efficient mechanisms are thus desirably designed to not only maximize the social welfare but also…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2024-07-29 Hirota Kinoshita , Takayuki Osogami , Kohei Miyaguchi

Reinforcement learning (RL) is inspired by the way human infants and animals learn from the environment. The setting is somewhat idealized because, in actual tasks, other agents in the environment have their own goals and behave adaptively…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2023-10-31 Yue Lin , Wenhao Li , Hongyuan Zha , Baoxiang Wang

Incentives in experimental design are often misaligned: experimenters design and finance experiments to seek regulatory approval, while regulators seek to maximize social-welfare. We propose a framework to resolve this conflict, wherein…

Econometrics · Economics 2026-05-19 Karun Adusumilli , Abhi Vemulapati

Incentive design deals with interaction between a principal and an agent where the former can shape the latter's utility through a policy commitment. It is well known that the principal faces an information rent when dealing with an agent…

Computer Science and Game Theory · Computer Science 2025-09-03 Raj Kiriti Velicheti , Subhonmesh Bose , Tamer Başar

This work considers a novel information design problem and studies how the craft of payoff-relevant environmental signals solely can influence the behaviors of intelligent agents. The agents' strategic interactions are captured by an…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2021-02-16 Tao Zhang , Quanyan Zhu

Multi-agent reinforcement learning in mixed-motive settings presents a fundamental challenge: agents must balance individual interests with collective goals, which are neither fully aligned nor strictly opposed. To address this, reward…

Multiagent Systems · Computer Science 2025-08-26 Woojun Kim , Katia Sycara