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Do not Blame Bellman: It Is Koopmans' Fault

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  • Gaetano Bloise
  • Cuong Le Van
  • Yiannis Vailakis

Abstract

We provide a unified approach to stochastic dynamic programming with recursive utility based on an elementary application of Tarski's fixed point theorem. We establish that the exclusive source of multiple values is the presence of multiple recursive utilities consistent with the given aggregator, each yielding a legitimate value of the recursive program. We also present sufficient conditions ensuring a unique value of the recursive program in some circumstances. Overall, acknowledging the unavoidable failure of uniqueness in general, we argue that the greatest fixed point of the Bellman operator should have a privileged position.

Suggested Citation

  • Gaetano Bloise & Cuong Le Van & Yiannis Vailakis, 2024. "Do not Blame Bellman: It Is Koopmans' Fault," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 92(1), pages 111-140, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:emetrp:v:92:y:2024:i:1:p:111-140
    DOI: 10.3982/ECTA20386
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Luca De Gennaro Aquino & Sascha Desmettre & Yevhen Havrylenko & Mogens Steffensen, 2024. "Equilibrium control theory for Kihlstrom-Mirman preferences in continuous time," Papers 2407.16525, arXiv.org, revised Oct 2024.
    2. Bloise, G. & Van, C. Le & Vailakis, Y., 2024. "An approximation approach to dynamic programming with unbounded returns," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    3. Alexis Akira Toda, 2024. "Unbounded Markov dynamic programming with weighted supremum norm Perov contractions," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 12(2), pages 141-156, December.

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