Deterministic mean-variance-optimal consumption and investment

In dynamic optimal consumption–investment problems one typically aims to find an optimal control from the set of adapted processes. This is also the natural starting point in case of a mean-variance objective. In contrast, we solve the optimization problem with the special feature that the consumption rate and the investment proportion are constrained to be deterministic processes. As a result we get rid of a series of unwanted features of the stochastic solution including diffusive consumption, satisfaction points and consistency problems. Deterministic strategies typically appear in unit-linked life insurance contracts, where the life-cycle investment strategy is age dependent but wealth independent. We explain how optimal deterministic strategies can be found numerically and present an example from life insurance where we compare the optimal solution with suboptimal deterministic strategies derived from the stochastic solution.     

Optimal investment–consumption problem: Post-retirement with minimum guarantee

We study the optimal investment–consumption problem for a member of defined contribution plan during the decumulation phase. For a fixed annuitization time, to achieve higher final annuity, we consider a variable consumption rate. Moreover, to have a minimum guarantee for the final annuity, a safety level for the wealth process is considered. To solve the stochastic optimal control problem via dynamic programming, we obtain a Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation on a bounded domain. The existence and uniqueness of classical solutions are proved through the dual transformation. We apply the finite difference method to find numerical approximations of the solution of the HJB equation. Finally, the simulation results for the optimal investment–consumption strategies, optimal wealth process and the final annuity for different admissible ranges of consumption are given. Furthermore, by taking into account the market present value of the cash flows before and after the annuitization, we compare the outcomes of different scenarios.     

跳扩散最优控制的随机最大值原理及在金融中的应用

讨论了由金融市场中投资组合和消费选择问题引出的一类最优控制问题,投资者的期望效用是常数相对风险厌恶(CRRA)情形.在跳扩散框架下,利用古典变分法得到了一个局部随机最大值原理.结果应用到最优投资组合和消费选择策略问题,得到了状态反馈形式的显式最优解.     

Stabilizing the Hamiltonian system for constructing optimal trajectories

An infinite-horizon optimal control problem based on an economic growth model is studied. The goal in the problem is to optimize the mechanisms of investment in basic production assets in order to increase the growth rate of the consumption level. The main output variable-the gross domestic product (GDP)-depends on three production factors: capital stock, human capital, and useful work. The first two factors are endogenous variables of the model, and the useful work is an exogenous factor. The dependence of the GDP on the production factors is described by the Cobb-Douglas power-type production function. The economic system under consideration is assumed to be closed, so the GDP is distributed between consumption and investment in the capital stock and human capital. The optimal control problem consists in determining optimal investment strategies that maximize the integral discounted relative consumption index on an infinite time interval. A solution to the problem is constructed on the basis of the Pontryagin maximum principle adapted to infinite-horizon problems. We examine the questions of existence and uniqueness of a solution, verify necessary and sufficient optimality conditions, and perform a qualitative analysis of Hamiltonian systems on the basis of which we propose an algorithm for constructing optimal trajectories. This algorithm uses information on solutions obtained by means of a nonlinear regulator. Finally, we estimate the accuracy of the algorithm with respect to the integral cost functional of the control process.     

Optimal portfolio and consumption selection with default risk

We investigate an optimal portfolio and consumption choice problem with a defaultable security. Under the goal of maximizing the expected discounted utility of the average past consumption, a dynamic programming principle is applied to derive a pair of second-order parabolic Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equations with gradient constraints. We explore these HJB equations by a viscosity solution approach and characterize the post-default and pre-default value functions as a unique pair of constrained viscosity solutions to the HJB equations.     

Optimal investment, consumption and retirement choice problem with disutility and subsistence consumption constraints

In this paper we consider a general optimal consumption-portfolio selection problem of an infinitely-lived agent whose consumption rate process is subject to subsistence constraints before retirement. That is, her consumption rate should be greater than or equal to some positive constant before retirement. We integrate three optimal decisions which are the optimal consumption, the optimal investment choice and the optimal stopping problem in which the agent chooses her retirement time in one model. We obtain the explicit forms of optimal policies using a martingale method and a variational inequality arising from the dual function of the optimal stopping problem. We treat the optimal retirement time as the first hitting time when her wealth exceeds a certain wealth level which will be determined by a free boundary value problem and duality approaches. We also derive closed forms of the optimal wealth processes before and after retirement. Some numerical examples are presented for the case of constant relative risk aversion (CRRA) utility class.     

关于无风险资产不存在时资产组合选择的研究

以往关于资产组合选择的研究大多假设市场上存在无风险资产,但无风险资产实际上是不存在的.当不存在无风险资产时,假设投资者的效用定义在消费上,消费一直是投资者财富的一个固定比例,投资者的最优资产组合由两部分组成:短视的资产组合和对冲组合.假设只有股票和债券两种风险资产,当股票和债券的风险具有负的相关性时,投资者现在会消费更多,同时也会在股票上投资更多;两者正相关时,投资者无法降低风险,会减持股票并降低当前消费;两者不相关时,投资者持有的股票权重和存在无风险资产时一样.最后,还推导出了多种资产情况下最优消费和资产组合的解析表达式.     

一类证券市场中投资组合及消费选择的最优控制问题

研究一类证券市场中投资组合及消费选择的最优控制问题．在随机干扰源相互关联情形下,运用动态规划方法,对一类典型的效用函数CRRA(Constant Relative Risk Aversion,常数相对风险厌恶)情形,得到了最优投资组合及消费选择的显式解,并给出了最优解的经济解释和关于部分参数的灵敏度分析．     

Consumption-Investment Problem with Subsistence Consumption,Bankruptcy, and Random Market Coefficients

We consider a general continuous-time finite-horizon single-agent consumption and portfolio decision problem with subsistence consumption and value of bankruptcy. Our analysis allows for random market coefficients and general continuously differentiable concave utility functions. We study the time of bankruptcy as a problem of optimal stopping, and succeed in obtaining explicit formulas for the optimal consumption and wealth processes in terms of the optimal bankruptcy time. This paper extends the results of Karatzas, Lehoczky, and Shreve (Ref. 1) on the maximization of expected utility from consumption in a financial market with random coefficients by incorporating subsistence consumption and bankruptcy. It also addresses the random coefficients and finite-horizon version of the problem treated by Sethi, Taksar, and Presman (Ref. 2). The mathematical tools used in our analysis are optimal stopping, stochastic control, martingale theory, and Girsanov change of measure.     

Optimal Consumption and Portfolio with Ambiguity to Markovian Switching

This paper considers the problem of maximizing expected utility from consumption and terminal wealth under model uncertainty for a general semimartingale market, where the agent with an initial capital and a random endowment can invest. To find a solution to the investment problem we use the martingale method. We first prove that under appropriate assumptions a unique solution to the investment problem exists. Then we deduce that the value functions of primal problem and dual problem are convex conjugate functions. Furthermore we consider a diffusion-jump-model where the coefficients depend on the state of a Markov chain and the investor is ambiguity to the intensity of the underlying Poisson process. Finally, for an agent with the logarithmic utility function, we use the stochastic control method to derive the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellmann (HJB) equation. And the solution to this HJB equation can be determined numerically. We also show how thereby the optimal investment strategy can be computed.     

Viscosity Characterization of the Value Function of an Investment-Consumption Problem in Presence of an Illiquid Asset

We study a problem of optimal investment/consumption over an infinite horizon in a market consisting of a liquid and an illiquid asset. The liquid asset is observed and can be traded continuously, while the illiquid one can only be traded and observed at discrete random times corresponding to the jumps of a Poisson process. The problem is a nonstandard mixed discrete/continuous optimal control problem, which we face by the dynamic programming approach. The main goal of the paper is the characterization of the value function as unique viscosity solution of an associated Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation. We then use such a result to build a numerical algorithm, allowing one to approximate the value function and so to measure the cost of illiquidity.     

Maximum Principle for a Stochastic Optimal Control Problem and Application to Portfolio/Consumption Choice

We consider mainly an optimal control problem motivated by a portfolio and consumption choice problem in a financial market where the utility of the investor is assumed to have a given homogeneous form. A Pontryagin local maximum principle is obtained by using classical variational methods. We apply the result to make optimal portfolio and consumption decisions for the problem under consideration. The optimal selection coincides with the one obtained in Refs. 1 and 2, where the Bellman dynamic programming principle was used.     

Optimal investment and consumption models with non-linear stock dynamics

We study a generalization of the Merton's original problem of optimal consumption and portfolio choice for a single investor in an intertemporal economy. The agent trades between a bond and a stock account and he may consume out of his bond holdings. The price of the bond is deterministic as opposed to the stock price which is modelled as a diffusion process. The main assumption is that the coefficients of the stock price diffusion are arbitrary nonlinear functions of the underlying process. The investor's goal is to maximize his expected utility from terminal wealth and/or his expected utility of intermediate consumption. The individual preferences are of Constant Relative Risk Aversion (CRRA) type for both the consumption stream and the terminal wealth. Employing a novel transformation, we are able to produce closed form solutions for the value function and the optimal policies. In the absence of intermediate consumption, the value function can be expressed in terms of a power of the solution of a homogeneous linear parabolic equation. When intermediate consumption is allowed, the value function is expressed via the solution of a non-homogeneous linear parabolic equation.     

Construction of a regulator for the hamiltonian system in a two-sector economic growth model

We consider an optimal control problem of investment in the capital stock of a country and in the labor efficiency. We start from a model constructed within the classical approaches of economic growth theory and based on three production factors: capital stock, human capital, and useful work. It is assumed that the levels of investment in the capital stock and human capital are endogenous control parameters of the model, while the useful work is an exogenous parameter subject to logistic-type dynamics. The gross domestic product (GDP) of a country is described by a Cobb-Douglas production function. As a utility function, we take the integral consumption index discounted on an infinite time interval. To solve the resulting optimal control problem, we apply dynamic programming methods. We study optimal control regimes and examine the existence of an equilibrium state in each regime. On the boundaries between domains of different control regimes, we check the smoothness and strict concavity of the maximized Hamiltonian. Special focus is placed on a regime of variable control actions. The novelty of the solution proposed consists in constructing a nonlinear stabilizer based on the feedback principle. The properties of the stabilizer allow one to find an approximate solution to the original problem in the neighborhood of an equilibrium state. Solving numerically the stabilized Hamiltonian system, we find the trajectories of the capital of a country and labor efficiency. The solutions obtained allow one to assess the growth rates of the GDP of the country and the level of consumption in the neighborhood of an equilibrium position.     

A branch and bound algorithm for scheduling jobs with controllable processing times on a single machine to meet due dates

In most deterministic scheduling problems, job-processing times are regarded as constant and known in advance. However, in many realistic environments, job-processing times can be controlled by the allocation of a common resource to jobs. In this paper, we consider the problem of scheduling jobs with arbitrary release dates and due dates on a single machine, where job-processing times are controllable and are modeled by a non-linear convex resource consumption function. The objective is to determine simultaneously an optimal processing permutation as well as an optimal resource allocation, such that no job is completed later than its due date, and the total resource consumption is minimized. The problem is strongly NP\mathcal{NP}-hard. A branch and bound algorithm is presented to solve the problem. The computational experiments show that the algorithm can provide optimal solution for small-sized problems, and near-optimal solution for medium-sized problems in acceptable computing time.     

Optimal consumption of the finite time horizon Ramsey problem

In this paper, we study the stochastic Ramsey problem related to an economic growth model with the CES production function in a finite time horizon. By changing variables, the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation associated with this optimization problem is transformed. By the viscosity solution technique, we show the existence of a classical solution of the transformed Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, and then give an optimal consumption policy of the original problem.     

An optimal job,consumption/leisure,and investment policy

In this paper we investigate an optimal job, consumption, and investment policy of an economic agent in a continuous and infinite time horizon. The agent’s preference is characterized by the Cobb–Douglas utility function whose arguments are consumption and leisure. We use the martingale method to obtain the closed-form solution for the optimal job, consumption, and portfolio policy. We compare the optimal consumption and investment policy with that in the absence of job choice opportunities.     

The opportunity process for optimal consumption and investment with power utility

We study the utility maximization problem for power utility random fields in a semimartingale financial market, with and without intermediate consumption. The notion of an opportunity process is introduced as a reduced form of the value process of the resulting stochastic control problem. We show how the opportunity process describes the key objects: optimal strategy, value function, and dual problem. The results are applied to obtain monotonicity properties of the optimal consumption.     

Optimal Investment and Consumption with Proportional Transaction Costs in Regime-Switching Model

This paper is concerned with an infinite-horizon problem of optimal investment and consumption with proportional transaction costs in continuous-time regime-switching models. An investor distributes his/her wealth between a stock and a bond and consumes at a non-negative rate from the bond account. The market parameters (the interest rate, the appreciation rate, and the volatility rate of the stock) are assumed to depend on a continuous-time Markov chain with a finite number of states (also known as regimes). The objective of the optimization problem is to maximize the expected discounted total utility of consumption. We first show that for a class of hyperbolic absolute risk aversion utility functions, the value function is a viscosity solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation associated with the optimization problem. We then treat a power utility function and generalize the existing results to the regime-switching case.     

Vasicek利率模型下带有零息票债券的投资-消费模型

应用随机最优控制理论研究Vasicek利率模型下的投资-消费问题,其中假设无风险利率是服从Vasicek利率模型的随机过程,且与股票价格过程存在一般相关性.假设金融市场由一种无风险资产、一种风险资产和一种零息票债券所构成,投资者的目标是最大化中期消费与终端财富的期望贴现效用.应用变量替换方法得到了幂效用下最优投资-消费策略的显示表达式,并分析了最优投资-消费策略对市场参数的灵敏度.