Rare and randomly occurring events are important features of the economic world. In continuous time they can easily be modeled by Poisson processes. Analyzing optimal behavior in such a setup requires the appropriate version of the change of variables formula and the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman...

Rare and randomly occurring events are important features of the economic world. In continuous time they can easily be modeled by Poisson processes. Analyzing optimal behavior in such a setup requires the appropriate version of the change of variables formula and the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman...

Using the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, we derive both a Keynes-Ramsey rule and a closed form solution for an optimal consumption-investment problem with labor income. The utility function is unbounded and uncertainty stems from a Poisson process. Our results can be derived because of the...

Using the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation, we derive both a Keynes-Ramsey rule and a closed form solution for an optimal consumption-investment problem with labor income. The utility function is unbounded and uncertainty stems from a Poisson process. Our results can be derived because of the...

The present paper is concerned with the optimal control of stochastic differential equations, where uncertainty stems from one or more independent Poisson processes. Optimal behavior in such a setup (e.g., optimal consumption) is usually determined by employing the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman...

If a given risky prospect is compared with multiple choice alternatives, then a joint test for optimality is more appropriate than a series of pairwise Stochastic Dominance tests. We develop and implement a bootstrap empirical likelihood ratio test for this hypothesis. The test statistic and...

Dynamic programming is the essential tool in dynamic economic analysis. Problems such as portfolio allocation for individuals and optimal economic growth are typical examples. Numerical methods typically approximate the value function. Recent work has focused on making numerical methods more...

We study a dynamic portfolio selection problem in which an agent trades a stock and a risk-free asset with the objective of maximizing the rank-dependent utility of her wealth at the terminal time of the investment horizon. Due to time inconsistency, we consider three types of agents,...

This interdisciplinary paper explains how mathematical techniques of stochastic optimal control can be applied to the recent subprime mortgage crisis. Why did the financial markets fail to anticipate the recent debt crisis, despite the large literature in mathematical finance concerning optimal...