Asymptotic behavior of continuous stochastic games

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the asymptotic behavior of the value functions of a continuous stochastic game as the number of stages grows to infinity or the discount factor approaches 1. After the setup of the problem we prove that, in both cases, the extrema of the value functions converge to the same limits. The convergence of the value functions is then obtained from the unicity of the solution of a functional problem and it is thus possible to design hypotheses that assure the convergence to a constant. This allows to assign a value to an undiscounted infinite-stage stochastic game in several senses and to show that optimal strategies are available for both players. Furthermore the boundedness of the remainders of the value function after removing the principal terms is analyzed, with appropriate hypotheses, and related to the existence of solutions of a Howard's type functional equation. This allows to show that for an infinite-stage undiscounted stochastic game optimal stationary strategies exist at least if this functional equation has some solution.