We consider a multilateral sequential bargaining model in which the players may differ in their probability of being selected as the proposer and the rate at which they discount future payoffs. For games in which agreement requires less than unanimous consent, we characterize the set of stationary subgame perfect equilibrium payoffs. With this characterization, we establish the uniqueness of th...

This paper assumes that a subjective discount factor is affected by an average level of investment in future-oriented resources in an economy (investment externalities) in addition to a level of individual investment in future-oriented resources. Under this assumption, this paper considers a maximization problem formulated as a pseudo planning problem and shows the conditions under which equili...

We prove that the simplex method with the highest gain/most-negative-reduced cost pivoting rule converges in strongly polynomial time for deterministic Markov decision processes (MDPs) regardless of the discount factor. For a deterministic MDP with n states and m actions, we prove the simplex method runs in O(nm log n) iterations if the discount factor is uniform and O(nm log n) iterations if e...

In a continuous time stochastic economy, this paper considers the problem of consumption and investment in a financial market in which the representative investor exhibits a change in the discount rate. The investment opportunities are a stock and a riskless account. The market coefficients and discount factor switches according to a finite state Markov chain. The change in the discount rate le...

A gambler starts with a fortune f < 1 and plays in a Vardi casino with infinitely many tables indexed by their odds r ≥ 0. In addition, all tables return the same expected winnings c < 0 per dollar and a discount factor is applied after each round. We determine the optimal probability to reach fortune one, as well as an optimal strategy, different from bold play for fortunes larger than a criti...

This paper considers the issue of discounting in relation to the appraisal of very long-term social projects. This is an increasingly important matter given the growing concerns over the environmental and safety impacts of many projects on future generations. Standard discounting practice trivialises the welfare impacts of projected costs and benefits on future populations, so a credible altern...