English

The shape of the value function under Poisson optimal stopping

Probability 2020-04-27 v2

Abstract

In a classical problem for the stopping of a diffusion process (Xt)t0(X_t)_{t \geq 0}, where the goal is to maximise the expected discounted value of a function of the stopped process Ex[eβτg(Xτ)]{\mathbb E}^x[e^{-\beta \tau}g(X_\tau)], maximisation takes place over all stopping times τ\tau. In a Poisson optimal stopping problem, stopping is restricted to event times of an independent Poisson process. In this article we consider whether the resulting value function Vθ(x)=supτT(Tθ)Ex[eβτg(Xτ)]V_\theta(x) = \sup_{\tau \in {\mathcal T}({\mathbb T}^\theta)}{\mathbb E}^x[e^{-\beta \tau}g(X_\tau)] (where the supremum is taken over stopping times taking values in the event times of an inhomogeneous Poisson process with rate θ=(θ(Xt))t0\theta = (\theta(X_t))_{t \geq 0}) inherits monotonicity and convexity properties from gg. It turns out that monotonicity (respectively convexity) of VθV_\theta in xx depends on the monotonicity (respectively convexity) of the quantity θ(x)g(x)θ(x)+β\frac{\theta(x) g(x)}{\theta(x) + \beta} rather than gg. Our main technique is stochastic coupling.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2003.03834,
  title  = {The shape of the value function under Poisson optimal stopping},
  author = {David Hobson},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2003.03834},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

16 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-23T14:08:02.960Z