Risk-Sensitive Control of Pure Jump Process on Countable Space with Near Monotone Cost

In this article, we study risk-sensitive control problem with controlled continuous time pure jump process on a countable space as state dynamics. We prove multiplicative dynamic programming principle, elliptic and parabolic Harnack’s inequalities. Using the multiplicative dynamic programing principle and the Harnack’s inequalities, we prove the existence and a characterization of optimal risk-sensitive control under the near monotone condition.     

Existence of Risk-Sensitive Optimal Stationary Policies for Controlled Markov Processes

In this paper we are concerned with the existence of optimal stationary policies for infinite-horizon risk-sensitive Markov control processes with denumerable state space, unbounded cost function, and long-run average cost. Introducing a discounted cost dynamic game, we prove that its value function satisfies an Isaacs equation, and its relationship with the risk-sensitive control problem is studied. Using the vanishing discount approach, we prove that the risk-sensitive dynamic programming inequality holds, and derive an optimal stationary policy. Accepted 1 October 1997     

The maximum principles for partially observed risk-sensitive optimal controls of Markov regime-switching jump-diffusion system

ABSTRACT

This paper studies partially observed risk-sensitive optimal control problems with correlated noises between the system and the observation. It is assumed that the state process is governed by a continuous-time Markov regime-switching jump-diffusion process and the cost functional is of an exponential-of-integral type. By virtue of a classical spike variational approach, we obtain two general maximum principles for the aforementioned problems. Moreover, under certain convexity assumptions on both the control domain and the Hamiltonian, we give a sufficient condition for the optimality. For illustration, a linear-quadratic risk-sensitive control problem is proposed and solved using the main results. As a natural deduction, a fully observed risk-sensitive maximum principle is also obtained and applied to study a risk-sensitive portfolio optimization problem. Closed-form expressions for both the optimal portfolio and the corresponding optimal cost functional are obtained.     

Generalised Risk-Sensitive Control with Full and Partial State Observation

This paper generalises the risk-sensitive cost functional by introducing noise dependent penalties on the state and control variables. The optimal control problems for the full and partial state observation are considered. Using a change of probability measure approach, explicit closed-form solutions are found in both cases. This has resulted in a new risk-sensitive regulator and filter, which are generalisations of the well-known classical results.     

Risk-sensitive finite-horizon piecewise deterministic Markov decision processes

This paper deals with risk-sensitive piecewise deterministic Markov decision processes, where the expected exponential utility of a finite-horizon reward is to be maximized. Both the transition rates and reward functions are allowed to be unbounded. Feynman–Kac’s formula is developed in our setup, using which along with an approximation technique, we establish the associated Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation and the existence of risk-sensitive optimal policies under suitable conditions.     

Risk sensitive control of pure jump processes on a general state space

We study stochastic control problem for pure jump processes on a general state space with risk sensitive discounted and ergodic cost criteria. For the discounted cost criterion we prove the existence and Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman characterization of optimal α-discounted control for bounded cost function. For the ergodic cost criterion we assume a Lyapunov type stability assumption and a small cost condition. Under these assumptions we show the existence of the optimal risk-sensitive ergodic control.     

Risk-sensitive average continuous-time Markov decision processes with unbounded rates

Abstract

In this paper we study the risk-sensitive average cost criterion for continuous-time Markov decision processes in the class of all randomized Markov policies. The state space is a denumerable set, and the cost and transition rates are allowed to be unbounded. Under the suitable conditions, we establish the optimality equation of the auxiliary risk-sensitive first passage optimization problem and obtain the properties of the corresponding optimal value function. Then by a technique of constructing the appropriate approximating sequences of the cost and transition rates and employing the results on the auxiliary optimization problem, we show the existence of a solution to the risk-sensitive average optimality inequality and develop a new approach called the risk-sensitive average optimality inequality approach to prove the existence of an optimal deterministic stationary policy. Furthermore, we give some sufficient conditions for the verification of the simultaneous Doeblin condition, use a controlled birth and death system to illustrate our conditions and provide an example for which the risk-sensitive average optimality strict inequality occurs.     

Stochastic optimization of forward recursive functions

This note solves a finite-horizon stochastic optimization problem with forward recursive criterion through dynamic programming. The forward recursive criterion is wide; it includes additive (discounted), multiplicative (discounted risk-sensitive), minimum and terminal criteria. The basic idea is to apply invariant imbedding method for the stochastic optimization. The method incorporates recursive accumulation process into dynamics by expanding the original state space.     

Zero-sum games for continuous-time Markov jump processes with risk-sensitive finite-horizon cost criterion

In this paper we study the zero-sum games for continuous-time Markov jump processes under the risk-sensitive finite-horizon cost criterion. The state space is a Borel space and the transition rates are allowed to be unbounded. Under the suitable conditions, we use a new value iteration approach to establish the existence of a solution to the risk-sensitive finite-horizon optimality equations of the players, obtain the existence of the value of the game and show the existence of saddle-point equilibria.     

Risk-sensitive control of continuous time Markov chains

We study risk-sensitive control of continuous time Markov chains taking values in discrete state space. We study both finite and infinite horizon problems. In the finite horizon problem we characterize the value function via Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equation and obtain an optimal Markov control. We do the same for infinite horizon discounted cost case. In the infinite horizon average cost case we establish the existence of an optimal stationary control under certain Lyapunov condition. We also develop a policy iteration algorithm for finding an optimal control.     

Locally Optimal Risk-Sensitive Controllers for Strict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems1,2

For a class of risk-sensitive nonlinear stochastic control problems with dynamics in strict-feedback form, we obtain through a constructive derivation state-feedback controllers which (i) are locally optimal, (ii) are globally inverse optimal, and (iii) lead to closed-loop system trajectories that are bounded in probability. The first feature implies that a linearized version of these controllers solve a linear exponential-quadratic Gaussian (LEQG) problem, and the second feature says that there exists an appropriate cost function according to which these controllers are optimal.     

Sufficient Stochastic Maximum Principle for the Optimal Control of Semi-Markov Modulated Jump-Diffusion with Application to Financial Optimization

The finite state semi-Markov process is a generalization over the Markov chain in which the sojourn time distribution is any general distribution. In this article, we provide a sufficient stochastic maximum principle for the optimal control of a semi-Markov modulated jump-diffusion process in which the drift, diffusion, and the jump kernel of the jump-diffusion process is modulated by a semi-Markov process. We also connect the sufficient stochastic maximum principle with the dynamic programming equation. We apply our results to finite horizon risk-sensitive control portfolio optimization problem and to a quadratic loss minimization problem.     

A RISK-SENSITIVE STOCHASTIC MAXIMUM PRINCIPLE FOR OPTIMAL CONTROL OF JUMP DIFFUSIONS AND ITS APPLICATIONS

A stochastic maximum principle for the risk-sensitive optimal control problem of jump diffusion processes with an exponential-of-integral cost functional is derived assuming that the value function is smooth, where the diffusion and jump term may both depend on the control. The form of the maximum principle is similar to its risk-neutral counterpart. But the adjoint equations and the maximum condition heavily depend on the risk-sensitive parameter. As applications, a linear-quadratic risk-sensitive control problem is solved by using the maximum principle derived and explicit optimal control is obtained.     

General Maximum Principles for Partially Observed Risk-Sensitive Optimal Control Problems and Applications to Finance

This paper is concerned with partially observed risk-sensitive optimal control problems. Combining Girsanov’s theorem with a standard spike variational technique, we obtain some general maximum principles for the aforementioned problems. One of the distinctive differences between our results and the standard risk-neutral case is that the adjoint equations and variational inequalities strongly depend on a risk-sensitive parameter γ. Two examples are given to illustrate the applications of the theoretical results obtained in this paper. As a natural deduction, a general maximum principle is also obtained for a fully observed risk-sensitive case. At last, this result is applied to study a risk-sensitive optimal portfolio problem. An explicit optimal investment strategy and a cost functional are obtained. A numerical simulation result shows the influence of a risk-sensitive parameter on an optimal investment proportion; this coincides with its economic meaning and theoretical results. This work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (10671112), the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, No. 2007CB814904), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Z2006A01) and the Doctoral Fund of the Education Ministry of China.     

Dynamic asset management with risk-sensitive criterion and non-negative factor constraints: a differential game approach

In this paper, we study continuous time portfolio optimization problem where individual securities are directly affected by economic factors. We consider the risk-sensitive criterion function as is familiar in the robust control literature. This is the natural setting for studying the infinite horizon case of the control problem arising in portfolio optimization. Our result extends earlier works by imposing explicitly the non-negativity constraint on the economic factors. This is achieved by using reflected diffusions. The risk-sensitive control problem with reflected diffusion is then converted into a stochastic differential game. The lower value of this game leads immediately to the desired optimal strategy. Also we prove the existence of unique strong solution to reflected diffusions with bounded measurable drift coefficient which is the first result of its kind for higher dimensional reflected diffusions.     

Nash Equilibria of Risk-Sensitive Nonlinear Stochastic Differential Games

This paper considers a class of risk-sensitive stochastic nonzero-sum differential games with parametrized nonlinear dynamics and parametrized cost functions. The parametrization is such that, if all or some of the parameters are set equal to some nominal values, then the differential game either becomes equivalent to a risk-sensitive stochastic control (RSSC) problem or decouples into several independent RSSC problems, which in turn are equivalent to a class of stochastic zero-sum differential games. This framework allows us to study the sensitivity of the Nash equilibrium (NE) of the original stochastic game to changes in the values of these parameters, and to relate the NE (generally difficult to compute and to establish existence and uniqueness, at least directly) to solutions of RSSC problems, which are relatively easier to obtain. It also allows us to quantify the sensitivity of solutions to RSSC problems (and thereby nonlinear H-control problems) to unmodeled subsystem dynamics controlled by multiple players.     

Mean-Field Pontryagin Maximum Principle

This paper provides a characterization of the optimal average cost function, when the long-run (risk-sensitive) average cost criterion is used. The Markov control model has a denumerable state space with finite set of actions, and the characterization presented is given in terms of a system of local Poisson equations, which gives as a by-product the existence of an optimal stationary policy.     

Solutions of the average cost optimality equation for finite Markov decision chains: risk-sensitive and risk-neutral criteria

This work is concerned with controlled Markov chains with finite state and action spaces. It is assumed that the decision maker has an arbitrary but constant risk sensitivity coefficient, and that the performance of a control policy is measured by the long-run average cost criterion. Within this framework, the existence of solutions of the corresponding risk-sensitive optimality equation for arbitrary cost function is characterized in terms of communication properties of the transition law.