用梯度法解决复杂合约设计难题,无需解析解也能高效求优。
Scalable Principal-Agent Contract Design via Gradient-Based Optimization
- 基于隐式微分与共轭梯度法,通过海森向量积计算超梯度。
- 在CARA-Normal等基准场景中收敛到已知最优解,初始化随机也稳定。
- 适用于非线性、高维、复杂噪声的合约模型,如逻辑薪酬、锦标赛激励。
我们研究一种双层最大-最大优化框架用于主代理合约设计,主方选择激励以最大化自身效用,同时预判代理的最佳响应。该问题核心源于道德风险与合约理论,广泛应用于市场设计、委托投资管理、对冲基金费用结构及高管薪酬等领域。尽管线性二次模型(如Holmström-Milgrom)存在闭式解,但具有非线性效用、随机动态或高维动作的现实环境通常无解析解。本文提出一种通用算法框架,摆脱对闭式解的依赖。方法采用现代机器学习中的双层优化技术,利用隐式微分结合共轭梯度(CG),通过海森向量积高效计算超梯度,无需显式构造或求逆海森矩阵。在基准CARA-Normal(常绝对风险厌恶与正态不确定性)环境中,该方法可恢复已知解析最优解,并从随机初始化可靠收敛。更广义地,因其矩阵无关、方差降低且问题无关,该框架自然拓展至闭式解不可得的复杂非线性合约,如逻辑薪酬函数、含共同冲击的相对绩效/锦标赛激励、多任务向量动作与异质噪声合约,以及均值为$\mathbb{E}[X dmid a]=e^{a}$的CARA-Poisson计数模型。这为合约设计提供了新的计算工具,使此前难以解析处理的模型得以系统研究。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
We study a bilevel \emph{max-max} optimization framework for principal-agent contract design, in which a principal chooses incentives to maximize utility while anticipating the agent's best response. This problem, central to moral hazard and contract theory, underlies applications ranging from market design to delegated portfolio management, hedge fund fee structures, and executive compensation. While linear-quadratic models such as Holmstr"om-Milgrom admit closed-form solutions, realistic environments with nonlinear utilities, stochastic dynamics, or high-dimensional actions generally do not. We introduce a generic algorithmic framework that removes this reliance on closed forms. Our method adapts modern machine learning techniques for bilevel optimization -- using implicit differentiation with conjugate gradients (CG) -- to compute hypergradients efficiently through Hessian-vector products, without ever forming or inverting Hessians. In benchmark CARA-Normal (Constant Absolute Risk Aversion with Gaussian distribution of uncertainty) environments, the approach recovers known analytical optima and converges reliably from random initialization. More broadly, because it is matrix-free, variance-reduced, and problem-agnostic, the framework extends naturally to complex nonlinear contracts where closed-form solutions are unavailable, such as sigmoidal wage schedules (logistic pay), relative-performance/tournament compensation with common shocks, multi-task contracts with vector actions and heterogeneous noise, and CARA-Poisson count models with $\mathbb{E}[X\mid a]=e^{a}$. This provides a new computational tool for contract design, enabling systematic study of models that have remained analytically intractable.
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