New framework tackles submodular welfare with multi-agent combinatorial bandits.
problem Maximizing total welfare among agents with shared constraints and submodular utilities under bandit feedback.
method Proposes an explore-then-commit strategy with randomized assignments for multi-agent combinatorial bandits.
result Achieves ildeO(T2/3) regret, first for partition-based submodular welfare problem under bandit feedback. This paper introduces metrics for welfare analysis in dynamic models. We develop estimation and inference for these parameters even in the presence of a high-dimensional state space. Examples of welfare metrics include average welfare, average marginal welfare effects, and welfare decompositions into direct and indirec…
The paper studies continuous submodular functions and their optimization.
problem Maximizing continuous submodular functions in poly. time.
method Characterization of continuous submodularity, operations preserving it, and algorithms for constrained maximization.
result Continuous submodularity is equivalent to a weak DR property, leading to continuous DR-submodular functions with the full DR property.
Submodularity is studied for convex risk measures, including Expected Shortfall.
problem Characterizing submodularity in convex risk measures.
method Analyzing submodularity properties of law-invariant coherent risk measures, including Expected Shortfall and Value-at-Risk.
result AES is submodular only when it reduces to ES, and empirical analysis shows AES violations are less frequent than VaR and ES violations.
New method for probabilistic modeling of integer submodular functions.
problem Lack of probabilistic modeling for integer submodular functions.
method Proposed Generalized Multilinear Extension and block-coordinate ascent algorithm.
result Demonstrated effectiveness and viability on real-world datasets.
Submodular function minimization is well studied, and existing algorithms solve it exactly or up to arbitrary accuracy. However, in many applications, such as structured sparse learning or batch Bayesian optimization, the objective function is not exactly submodular, but close. In this case, no theoretical guarantees e…
Differentially private algorithms for submodular maximization under various constraints.
problem Maximizing decomposable submodular functions under constraints while preserving privacy.
method Designing differentially private algorithms for both monotone and non-monotone decomposable submodular maximization under general matroid constraints.
result Improved utility guarantees and competitive performance compared to non-private algorithms.
The paper introduces submodular information measures for machine learning applications.
problem Generalizing information-theoretic measures to non-random variables.
method Developing combinatorial information measures based on submodular functions.
result Submodular mutual information is submodular in one argument for certain submodular functions.
We introduce a method to learn a mixture of submodular "shells" in a large-margin setting. A submodular shell is an abstract submodular function that can be instantiated with a ground set and a set of parameters to produce a submodular function. A mixture of such shells can then also be so instantiated to produce a mor…
Current methodologies in machine learning analyze the effects of various statistical parity notions of fairness primarily in light of their impacts on predictive accuracy and vendor utility loss. In this paper, we propose a new framework for interpreting the effects of fairness criteria by converting the constrained lo…
The paper addresses how to complete incomplete risk markets by iteratively enhancing welfare.
problem How to complete incomplete risk markets to enhance welfare.
method Iterative mechanism to complete the market while monotonically enhancing welfare.
result Iterative completion of incomplete risk markets can enhance welfare.
The paper tackles adaptive policy selection to maximize social welfare, achieving optimal regret bounds.
problem Maximizing social welfare through adaptive policy selection, considering both private utility and public revenue.
method The approach involves learning response functions through experimentation, deriving lower and upper bounds for regret, and using algorithms like Exp3.
result The algorithm achieves optimal regret bounds, showing that welfare maximization is harder than multi-armed bandit problems.
We are motivated by large scale submodular optimization problems, where standard algorithms that treat the submodular functions in the \emph{value oracle model} do not scale. In this paper, we present a model called the \emph{precomputational complexity model}, along with a unifying memoization based framework, which l…
New algorithm maximizes non-monotone adaptive submodular functions in linear time.
problem Maximizing non-monotone adaptive submodular functions subject to a cardinality constraint.
method Developed a linear-time algorithm for non-monotone adaptive submodular maximization.
result Achieved a 1/e−ε approximation ratio with O(nε−2logε−1) value oracle queries. The paper automates policy learning for nonlinear welfare criteria using machine learning and debiasing techniques.
problem Learning optimal policies from observational data with nonlinear welfare criteria.
method Modeling a nonlinear welfare criterion with a utility function, estimating propensity scores with machine learning, and using sieve approximations and cross-validation for model selection.
result The proposed policy learning method satisfies oracle inequalities, providing theoretical guarantees on performance.
Submodularity is one of the most well-studied properties of problem classes in combinatorial optimization and many applications of machine learning and data mining, with strong implications for guaranteed optimization. In this thesis, we investigate the role of submodularity in provable non-convex optimization and vali…
New job recommendation system improves job seekers' welfare through field experiments.
problem Current job recommendation systems focus on clicks and applications, not job seekers' welfare.
method Developed a job-search model with two dimensions: utility and success probability. Conducted field experiments to validate model predictions.
result Welfare-optimal job recommendation algorithms outperform existing approaches and perform close to the benchmark.
Investors suffer welfare loss despite having better information.
problem Welfare loss among investors with absolute information advantages.
method Examined financial markets with heterogenous investors and objective measures of welfare.
result Investors incur welfare loss even with better information, revealing a double loss phenomenon.
Paper tackles stochastic k-submodular bandits with full feedback, achieving sublinear regret.
problem Online optimization of k-submodular functions with full-bandit feedback. method Proposes online algorithms for various k-submodular stochastic combinatorial multi-armed bandit problems. result Achieves sublinear α-regret bounds for multiple k-submodular stochastic combinatorial multi-armed bandit problems. Study private submodular maximization in streaming data.
problem Private maximization of submodular functions in streaming data.
method Established differentially private baselines and derived better trade-offs for decomposable submodular functions.
result Improved trade-offs between privacy and utility for decomposable submodular functions.
A number of discrete and continuous optimization problems in machine learning are related to convex minimization problems under submodular constraints. In this paper, we deal with a submodular function with a directed graph structure, and we show that a wide range of convex optimization problems under submodular constr…
The paper develops an economic foundation for multi-agent learning in markets.
problem Learning dynamics in markets with strategic externalities.
method A two-phase incentive mechanism that estimates and uses implementable transfers to steer long-run dynamics.
result The mechanism achieves sublinear social-welfare regret and asymptotically optimal welfare under mild rationality and exploration conditions.
New framework improves cost-benefit analysis of policies.
problem Limitations of MVPF in welfare analysis.
method Developed an axiomatic framework to create RPV.
result RPV provides better equity-efficiency trade-off quantification.
New algorithms solve DR-submodular maximization with faster convergence.
problem Maximizing monotone DR-submodular functions under convex constraints.
method Introduced strongly DR-submodular functions and proposed SDRFW and PGA algorithms.
result SDRFW achieves optimal approximation ratio after fewer iterations.
Adaptive cascade submodular maximization tackles sequential selection under uncertainty.
problem Maximizing expected utility from a set of items with unknown states and continuation probabilities.
method Proposed adaptive cascade submodular functions and a 0.12 approximation algorithm.
result Identified a class of functions (adaptive cascade submodular) that many practical applications satisfy.
Now that machine learning algorithms lie at the center of many resource allocation pipelines, computer scientists have been unwittingly cast as partial social planners. Given this state of affairs, important questions follow. What is the relationship between fairness as defined by computer scientists and notions of soc…
A new method learns interpretable decision rules using submodular optimization.
problem Learning interpretable decision rules from data.
method Submodular optimization approach for selecting rules from a large set.
result The method effectively learns interpretable rule sets from real datasets.
Problems of segmentation, denoising, registration and 3D reconstruction are often addressed with the graph cut algorithm. However, solving an unconstrained graph cut problem is NP-hard. For tractable optimization, pairwise potentials have to fulfill the submodularity inequality. In our learning paradigm, pairwise poten…
Although both systems analyzed are described through two theories apparently different (quantum mechanics and game theory) it is shown that both are analogous and thus exactly equivalents. The quantum analogue of the replicator dynamics is the von Neumann equation. Quantum mechanics could be used to explain more correc…
Algorithm improves recommendation subset selection in the presence of biases.
problem Maximizing submodular functions for recommendation in the presence of social biases.
method Algorithm for submodular maximization with fairness constraints.
result Algorithm provably outputs subsets with near-optimal utility and proportional representation.
Submodular functions are a broad class of set functions, which naturally arise in diverse areas. Many algorithms have been suggested for the maximization of these functions. Unfortunately, once the function deviates from submodularity, the known algorithms may perform arbitrarily poorly. Amending this issue, by obtaini…
New algorithms reduce regret for online submodular maximization under various conditions.
problem Online optimization of submodular functions with adversarial or random utilities.
method Characterized strongly DR-submodular functions and derived bounds for different utility classes.
result Logarithmic regret bounds for adversarial strongly DR-submodular functions and submodular functions with random order.
This paper studies robust payoff allocation in submodular games, especially against replication.
problem Payoff allocation in submodular games, especially robustness against replication.
method Systematically studied replication manipulation in submodular games, introduced replication robustness metric, and validated with empirical ML data market.
result Conditions characterizing robustness of semivalues in submodular games.
The so called "globalization" process (i.e. the inexorable integration of markets, currencies, nation-states, technologies and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole) has a behavior exactly equivalent to a system that is tending to a maximum entropy state. This globalization process obeys a collec…
Study bridges welfare maximization and CATE estimation in policy learning.
problem Tackles the gap between empirical welfare maximization and conditional average treatment effect estimation in policy learning.
method Shows equivalence between EWM and least squares over reparameterized policy class, proposes regularization method.
result Both approaches are interchangeable under common conditions and share theoretical guarantees.
Existence of incomplete Radner equilibrium with endogenous noise tracker.
problem Existence of incomplete Radner equilibrium in a model with endogenous noise tracker.
method Proved existence through a coupled system of ODEs, reduced to two coupled ODEs.
result Endogenous noise tracker leads to higher aggregate welfare for large stock supply.
Generative Flow Networks use submodular upper bounds to generate more data.
problem Generating data from unknown, complex reward functions efficiently.
method Introduce submodular upper bounds to estimate reward, use Optimism in the Face of Uncertainty principle to train GFNs.
result SUBo-GFN generates significantly more data than classical GFNs.
Fast algorithms developed for adaptive and fully adaptive submodular maximization problems.
problem Maximizing submodular functions subject to constraints in linear time.
method Developed linear-time algorithms for two submodular maximization problems: adaptive and fully adaptive.
result Achieved (1−1/e−ε) approximation ratio for adaptive submodular maximization and $ rac{1-1/e-ε}{4-2/e-2ε}$ for fully adaptive submodular maximization. The scalability of submodular optimization methods is critical for their usability in practice. In this paper, we study the reducibility of submodular functions, a property that enables us to reduce the solution space of submodular optimization problems without performance loss. We introduce the concept of reducibility…
New method improves submodular maximization for machine learning applications.
problem Inexact monotonicity in submodular functions limits traditional algorithms' performance.
method Introduces monotonicity ratio as a continuous version of monotonicity, leading to improved approximation guarantees.
result Improved approximation ratios for movie recommendation, quadratic programming, and image summarization.
The paper proposes a new policy for optimal treatment allocation based on quantile treatment effects.
problem Optimal treatment allocation policies that target distributional welfare, especially when individuals are heterogeneous.
method The approach involves allocating treatments based on the conditional quantile of individual treatment effects (QoTE), considering both prudent and negligent policymakers.
result The proposed minimax policies are robust to model uncertainty and can be generalized to various settings.
In this paper, we propose a new framework for designing fast parallel algorithms for fundamental statistical subset selection tasks that include feature selection and experimental design. Such tasks are known to be weakly submodular and are amenable to optimization via the standard greedy algorithm. Despite its desirab…
We extend the work of Narasimhan and Bilmes [30] for minimizing set functions representable as a dierence between submodular functions. Similar to [30], our new algorithms are guaranteed to monotonically reduce the objective function at every step. We empirically and theoretically show that the per-iteration cost of ou…
We propose a new concept named adaptive submodularity ratio to study the greedy policy for sequential decision making. While the greedy policy is known to perform well for a wide variety of adaptive stochastic optimization problems in practice, its theoretical properties have been analyzed only for a limited class of p…
In this paper, we propose scalable methods for maximizing a regularized submodular function f=g−ℓ expressed as the difference between a monotone submodular function g and a modular function ℓ. Indeed, submodularity is inherently related to the notions of diversity, coverage, and representativeness. In p…
New welfare-based fairness notions align with existing error rate balance and predictive parity.
problem Aligning fairness notions with welfare-based criteria.
method Discussing and establishing conditions for envy freeness and prejudice freeness.
result Envy freeness and prejudice freeness are equivalent to error rate balance and predictive parity.
Submodular extensions of an energy function can be used to efficiently compute approximate marginals via variational inference. The accuracy of the marginals depends crucially on the quality of the submodular extension. To identify the best possible extension, we show an equivalence between the submodular extensions of…
New algorithm for maximizing submodular functions in real-time data changes.
problem Maximizing submodular functions under dynamic constraints.
method Randomized algorithm with O(k2) amortized update time. result 4-approximate solution to submodular maximization problem.