On Optimal Scheduling

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Eliaz, Kfir; Fershtman, Daniel; Frug, Alexander
• 署名单位: Tel Aviv University; Tel Aviv University; Emory University; Pompeu Fabra University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MICROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7669
• DOI: 10.1257/mic.20230169
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 475-522
• 关键词: allocation; search

摘要

We consider a decision-maker sequentially choosing among alternatives when periodic payoffs depend on both chosen and unchosen alternatives in that period. We show that when flow payoffs are the sum or product of payoffs from chosen and unchosen alternatives, the optimal policy is an index policy. We characterize key properties of the optimal dynamics and present an algorithm for computing the indices explicitly. Furthermore, we use the results to generalize Weitzman's ( 1979 ) classic Pandora's boxes problem to allow for complementarities. We illustrate the framework's usefulness through applications, including decision problems with disappearing alternatives, repeated bargaining, dynamic supervision, and dynamic choice. C78, D82,