IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/matsoc/v76y2015icp131-145.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A perpetual search for talents across overlapping generations: A learning process

Author

Listed:
  • Agbo, Maxime

Abstract

We consider a class of multi-armed bandit problems which is at the same time an arm-acquiring, restless and mortal bandit, and where the rewards follow any distribution. This is the case for a committee whose mission is to select the best element of a set of talents who live for K periods, and who have different seniorities. In each period, new young talents enter the set. We find that if K is infinite the problem is indexable. However, the index we find is different from that of Gittins, and is easier to be implemented. If K is finite the problem is not indexable. In that case, we solve partially the problem. Under some condition, we develop a criterion to compare two talents. We also find that the solution we propose is still optimal in case of multiple plays.

Suggested Citation

  • Agbo, Maxime, 2015. "A perpetual search for talents across overlapping generations: A learning process," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 131-145.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:matsoc:v:76:y:2015:i:c:p:131-145
    DOI: 10.1016/j.mathsocsci.2015.05.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165489615000475
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.mathsocsci.2015.05.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nabil I. Al-Najjar & Jonathan Weinstein, 2008. "Comparative Testing of Experts," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 76(3), pages 541-559, May.
    2. Dirk Bergemann & Ulrigh Hege, 2005. "The Financing of Innovation: Learning and Stopping," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 719-752, Winter.
    3. Rustichini, Aldo & Wolinsky, Asher, 1995. "Learning about variable demand in the long run," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 19(5-7), pages 1283-1292.
    4. Bruno Strulovici, 2010. "Learning While Voting: Determinants of Collective Experimentation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 78(3), pages 933-971, May.
    5. Weitzman, Martin L, 1979. "Optimal Search for the Best Alternative," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(3), pages 641-654, May.
    6. Godfrey Keller & Sven Rady & Martin Cripps, 2005. "Strategic Experimentation with Exponential Bandits," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(1), pages 39-68, January.
    7. Bergemann, Dirk & Hege, Ulrich, 1998. "Venture capital financing, moral hazard, and learning," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 703-735, August.
    8. Apostolos N. Burnetas & Michael N. Katehakis, 1997. "Optimal Adaptive Policies for Markov Decision Processes," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 222-255, February.
    9. Godfrey Keller & Sven Rady, 1999. "Optimal Experimentation in a Changing Environment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(3), pages 475-507.
    10. Cropper, Maureen L & Aydede, Sema K & Portney, Paul R, 1994. "Preferences for Life Saving Programs: How the Public Discounts Time and Age," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 243-265, May.
    11. Roberts, Kevin & Weitzman, Martin L, 1981. "Funding Criteria for Research, Development, and Exploration Projects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(5), pages 1261-1288, September.
    12. Rothschild, Michael, 1974. "A two-armed bandit theory of market pricing," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 185-202, October.
    13. Dimitrios G. Pandelis & Demosthenis Teneketzis, 1999. "On the optimality of the Gittins index rule for multi-armed bandits with multiple plays," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 50(3), pages 449-461, December.
    14. Banks, Jeffrey S & Sundaram, Rangarajan K, 1994. "Switching Costs and the Gittins Index," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(3), pages 687-694, May.
    15. Michael N. Katehakis & Arthur F. Veinott, 1987. "The Multi-Armed Bandit Problem: Decomposition and Computation," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 262-268, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sorensen, Morten, 2007. "Learning by Investing: Evidence from Venture Capital," SIFR Research Report Series 53, Institute for Financial Research.
    2. Arthur Charpentier & Romuald Élie & Carl Remlinger, 2023. "Reinforcement Learning in Economics and Finance," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 425-462, June.
    3. Mason, Robin & Välimäki, Juuso, 2011. "Learning about the arrival of sales," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(4), pages 1699-1711, July.
    4. Gomes, Renato & Gottlieb, Daniel & Maestri, Lucas, 2016. "Experimentation and project selection: Screening and learning," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 145-169.
    5. Besanko, David & Tong, Jian & Wu, Jianjun, 2016. "Subsidizing research programs with "if" and "when" uncertainty in the face of severe informational constraints," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 1605, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
    6. Asaf Cohen & Eilon Solan, 2013. "Bandit Problems with Lévy Processes," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 38(1), pages 92-107, February.
    7. Arthur Charpentier & Romuald Elie & Carl Remlinger, 2020. "Reinforcement Learning in Economics and Finance," Papers 2003.10014, arXiv.org.
    8. Urtzi Ayesta & M Erausquin & E Ferreira & P Jacko, 2016. "Optimal Dynamic Resource Allocation to Prevent Defaults," Post-Print hal-01300681, HAL.
    9. Keller, Godfrey & Rady, Sven, 2015. "Breakdowns," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(1), January.
    10. Keller, Godfrey & Novák, Vladimír & Willems, Tim, 2019. "A note on optimal experimentation under risk aversion," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 476-487.
    11. Keller, Godfrey & Oldale, Alison, 2003. "Branching bandits: a sequential search process with correlated pay-offs," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 302-315, December.
    12. Alessandro Lizzeri & Eran Shmaya & Leeat Yariv, 2024. "Disentangling Exploration from Exploitation," Papers 2404.19116, arXiv.org.
    13. Chen, Chia-Hui & Ishida, Junichiro, 2018. "Hierarchical experimentation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 365-404.
    14. Nicolas Klein & Tymofiy Mylovanov, 2011. "Should the Flatterers be Avoided?," 2011 Meeting Papers 1273, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    15. Heidhues, Paul & Rady, Sven & Strack, Philipp, 2015. "Strategic experimentation with private payoffs," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 159(PA), pages 531-551.
    16. Urtzi Ayesta & M Erausquin & E Ferreira & P Jacko, 2016. "Optimal Dynamic Resource Allocation to Prevent Defaults," Working Papers hal-01300681, HAL.
    17. Erin L. Scott & Pian Shu & Roman M. Lubynsky, 2015. "Are “Better” Ideas More Likely to Succeed? An Empirical Analysis of Startup Evaluation," Harvard Business School Working Papers 16-013, Harvard Business School.
    18. Roland Fryer & Philipp Harms, 2018. "Two-Armed Restless Bandits with Imperfect Information: Stochastic Control and Indexability," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 43(2), pages 399-427, May.
    19. Alessandro Spiganti, 2022. "Wealth Inequality and the Exploration of Novel Alternatives," Working Papers 2022:02, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    20. Johannes Hörner & Larry Samuelson, 2013. "Incentives for experimenting agents," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 44(4), pages 632-663, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:matsoc:v:76:y:2015:i:c:p:131-145. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505565 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.