Stochastic programs without duality gaps for objectives without a lower bound

Abstract

This paper studies parameterized stochastic optimization problems in finite discrete time that arise in many applications in operations research and mathematical finance. We prove the existence of solutions and the absence of a duality gap under conditions that relax the boundedness assumption made by Pennanen and Perkki\"o in [Stochastic programs without duality gaps, Math. Program., 136(1):91--110,2012]. We apply the result to a utility maximization problem with an unbounded utility.