Motivated by the trend towards more collaboration in work flows, we study stochastic processing networks where some activities require the simultaneous collaboration of multiple human resources. Collaboration introduces resource synchronization requirements that are not captured in the standard procedure (formalized through a static planning problem) to identify bottlenecks and theoretical capa...

In settings with incomplete information, players can find it difficult to coordinate to find states with good social welfare. For example, in financial settings, if a collection of financial firms have limited information about each other’s strategies, some large number of them may choose the same high-risk investment in hopes of high returns. While this might be acceptable in some cases, the e...

We analyze the e ects of a prevailing low interest rates regime on investment decisions of insurance companies and on the risk/return pro le of participating life insurance policies with di erent contractually guaranteed minimum annual return. Our analysis is based on German legislation and a stylized insurance company with two cohorts of insured persons having di erent minimal return guarantee...

Insurance products become increasingly more innovative in order to face competitive pressures. Insurance policies today come with guarantees on the minimum rate of return, bonus provisions, and surrender options. These features make them attractive for investors who seek not only insurance but also investment vehicles. However, the new policies are much more complex to price and fund than tradi...