English

Stochastic Approximation with Decision-Dependent Distributions: Asymptotic Normality and Optimality

Optimization and Control 2024-05-15 v3 Machine Learning Machine Learning

Abstract

We analyze a stochastic approximation algorithm for decision-dependent problems, wherein the data distribution used by the algorithm evolves along the iterate sequence. The primary examples of such problems appear in performative prediction and its multiplayer extensions. We show that under mild assumptions, the deviation between the average iterate of the algorithm and the solution is asymptotically normal, with a covariance that clearly decouples the effects of the gradient noise and the distributional shift. Moreover, building on the work of H\'ajek and Le Cam, we show that the asymptotic performance of the algorithm with averaging is locally minimax optimal.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2207.04173,
  title  = {Stochastic Approximation with Decision-Dependent Distributions: Asymptotic Normality and Optimality},
  author = {Joshua Cutler and Mateo Díaz and Dmitriy Drusvyatskiy},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.04173},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

49 pages, 1 figure. v2: revised asymptotic optimality results and reworked exposition. v3: minor updates

R2 v1 2026-06-25T00:46:30.685Z