Title
Optimal Dynamic Mechanism Design and the Virtual-Pivot Mechanism.
Abstract
We consider the problem of designing optimal mechanisms for settings where agents have dynamic private information. We present the virtual-pivot mechanism, which is optimal in a large class of environments that satisfy a separability condition. The mechanism satisfies a rather strong equilibrium notion (it is periodic ex post incentive compatible and individually rational). We provide both necessary and sufficient conditions for immediate incentive compatibility for mechanisms that satisfy periodic ex post incentive compatibility in future periods. The result also yields a strikingly simple mechanism for selling a sequence of items to a single buyer. We also show that the allocation rule of the virtual-pivot mechanism has a very simple structure (a virtual index) in multiarmed bandit settings. Finally, we show through examples that the relaxation technique we use does not produce optimal dynamic mechanisms in general nonseparable environments.
Year
DOI
Venue
2013
10.1287/opre.2013.1194
OPERATIONS RESEARCH
Keywords
Field
DocType
design optimization,multi armed bandit,online advertising,incentive compatibility,private information,indexation,satisfiability
Mathematical optimization,Mathematical economics,Incentive compatibility,Relaxation technique,Online advertising,Mechanism design,Periodic graph (geometry),Private information retrieval,Operations management,Mathematics
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
61
4
0030-364X
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
27
2.08
7
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Sham Kakade14365282.77
Ilan Lobel224017.78
Hamid Nazerzadeh332030.03