Differentiability of the value function without interiority assumptions

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Theory
Year: 2009
Volume: 144
Issue: 5
Pages: 1948-1964

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper studies first-order differentiability properties of the value function in concave dynamic programs. Motivated by economic considerations, we dispense with commonly imposed interiority assumptions. We suppose that the correspondence of feasible choices varies with the vector of state variables, and we allow the optimal solution to belong to the boundary of this correspondence. Under minimal assumptions we prove that the value function is continuously differentiable. We then discuss this result in the context of some economic models, and focus on some examples in which our assumptions are not met and the value function is not differentiable.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jetheo:v:144:y:2009:i:5:p:1948-1964
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29