arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Samuel N. Cohen.
In stochastic decision problems, one often wants to estimate the underlying probability measure statistically, and then to use this estimate as a basis for decisions. We shall consider how the uncertainty in this estimation can be explicitly and consistently incorporated in the valuation of decisions, using the theory of nonlinear expectations.
In this paper we consider ergodic optimal control of a diffusion process $\{X^u_t\}_{t \geq 0}$, taking values in $\bR^n$, where both drift and volatility are controlled. We establish a novel strong duality between the existence of a unique solution to the infinite horizon adjoint BSDE and strong dissipativity of $X^u$. We then proceed to show that the latter implies irreducibility, the strong Feller property and exponential ergodicity. We conclude by discussing the connection with ergodic BSDEs.
In this paper we look at ergodic BSDEs in the case where the forward dynamics are given by the solution to a non-autonomous (time-periodic coefficients) Ornstein-Uhlenbeck SDE with Lévy noise, taking values in a separable Hilbert space. We establish the existence of a unique bounded solution to an infinite horizon discounted BSDE. We then use the vanishing discount approach, together with coupling techniques, to obtain a Markovian solution to the EBSDE. We also prove uniqueness under certain growth conditions. Applications are then given, in particular to risk-averse ergodic optimal control and power plant evaluation under uncertainty.
We consider ergodic backward stochastic differential equations in a discrete time setting, where noise is generated by a finite state Markov chain. We show existence and uniqueness of solutions, along with a comparison theorem. To obtain this result, we use a Nummelin splitting argument to obtain ergodicity estimates for a discrete time Markov chain which hold uniformly under suitable perturbations of its transition matrix. We conclude with an application of this theory to a treatment of an ergodic control problem.
We consider a self-exciting counting process, the parameters of which depend on a hidden finite-state Markov chain. We derive the optimal filter and smoother for the hidden chain based on observation of the jump process. This filter is in closed form and is finite dimensional. We demonstrate the performance of this filter both with simulated data, and by analysing the `flash crash' of 6th May 2010 in this framework.
We give a bare-hands approach to the martingale representation theorem for integer valued random measures, which allows for a wide class of infinite activity jump processes, as well as all processes with well-ordered jumps.
In this paper, we study reflected backward stochastic difference equations (RBSDEs for short) with finitely many states in discrete time. The general existence and uniqueness result, as well as comparison theorems for the solutions, are established under mild assumptions. The connections between RBSDEs and optimal stopping problems are also given. Then we apply the obtained results to explore optimal stopping problems under $g$-expectation. Finally, we study the pricing of American contingent claims in our context.
We consider Backward Stochastic Differential Equations in a setting where noise is generated by a countable state, continuous time Markov chain, and the terminal value is prescribed at a stopping time. We show that, given sufficient integrability of the stopping time and a growth bound on the terminal value and BSDE driver, these equations admit unique solutions satisfying the same growth bound (up to multiplication by a constant). This holds without assuming that the driver is monotone in y, that is, our results do not require that the terminal value be discounted at some uniform rate. We show that the conditions are satisfied for hitting times of states of the chain, and hence present some novel applications of the theory of these BSDEs.
We present a theory of backward stochastic differential equations in continuous time with an arbitrary filtered probability space. No assumptions are made regarding the left continuity of the filtration, of the predictable quadratic variations of martingales or of the measure integrating the driver. We present conditions for existence and uniqueness of square-integrable solutions, using Lipschitz continuity of the driver. These conditions unite the requirements for existence in continuous and discrete time and allow discrete processes to be embedded with continuous ones. We also present conditions for a comparison theorem and hence construct time consistent nonlinear expectations in these general spaces.
We consider ergodic backward stochastic differential equations, in a setting where noise is generated by a countable state uniformly ergodic Markov chain. We show that for Lipschitz drivers such that a comparison theorem holds, these equations admit unique solutions. To obtain this result, we show by coupling and splitting techniques that uniform ergodicity estimates of Markov chains are robust to perturbations of the rate matrix, and that these perturbations correspond in a natural way to EBSDEs. We then consider applications of this theory to Markov decision problems with a risk-averse average reward criterion.
We study (backward) stochastic differential equations with noise coming from a finite state Markov chain. We show that, for the solutions of these equations to be `Markovian', in the sense that they are deterministic functions of the state of the underlying chain, the integrand must be of a specific form. This allows us to connect these equations to coupled systems of ODEs, and hence to give fast numerical methods for the evaluation of Markov-Chain BSDEs.
We consider coherent sublinear expectations on a measurable space, without assuming the existence of a dominating probability measure. By considering a decomposition of the space in terms of the supports of the measures representing our sublinear expectation, we give a simple construction, in a quasi-sure sense, of the (linear) conditional expectations, and hence give a representation for the conditional sublinear expectation. We also show an aggregation property holds, and give an equivalence between consistency and a pasting property of measures.
We consider a single security market based on a limit order book and two investors, with different speeds of trade execution. If the fast investor can front-run the slower investor, we show that this allows the fast trader to obtain risk free profits, but that these profits cannot be scaled. We derive the fast trader's optimal behaviour when she has only distributional knowledge of the slow trader's actions, with few restrictions on the possible prior distributions. We also consider the slower trader's response to the presence of a fast trader in a market, and the effects of the introduction of a `Tobin tax' on financial transactions. We show that such a tax can lead to the elimination of profits from front-running strategies. Consequently, a Tobin tax can both increase market efficiency and attract traders to a market.
We show that for a large class of marked point processes there exists a random measure m with the predictable representation property such that iterated integrals with respect to m span the space of square integrable random variables.
We consider filtration consistent nonlinear expectations in probability spaces satisfying only the usual conditions and separability. Under a domination assumption, we demonstrate that these nonlinear expectations can be expressed as the solutions to Backward Stochastic Differential Equations with Lipschitz continuous drivers, where both the martingale and the driver terms are permitted to jump, and the martingale representation is infinite dimensional. To establish this result, we show that this domination condition is sufficient to guarantee that the comparison theorem for BSDEs will hold, and we generalise the nonlinear Doob-Meyer decomposition of Peng to a general context.
We consider portfolio selection when decisions based on a dynamic risk measure are affected by the use of a moving horizon, and the possible inconsistencies that this creates. By giving a formal treatment of time consistency which is independent of Bellman's equations, we show that there is a new sense in which these decisions can be seen as consistent.
We study coherent risk measures which are time-consistent for multiple filtrations. We show that a coherent risk measure is time-consistent for every filtration if and only if it is one of four main types. Furthermore, if the risk measure is strictly monotone it is linear, and if the reference probability space is not atomic then it is either linear or an essential supremum.
Most previous contributions to BSDEs, and the related theories of nonlinear expectation and dynamic risk measures, have been in the framework of continuous time diffusions or jump diffusions. Using solutions of BSDEs on spaces related to finite state, continuous time Markov chains, we develop a theory of nonlinear expectations in the spirit of [Dynamically consistent nonlinear evaluations and expectations (2005) Shandong Univ.]. We prove basic properties of these expectations and show their applications to dynamic risk measures on such spaces. In particular, we prove comparison theorems for scalar and vector valued solutions to BSDEs, and discuss arbitrage and risk measures in the scalar case.