IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/spapps/v150y2022icp1059-1067.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The 1/e-strategy is sub-optimal for the problem of best choice under no information

Author

Listed:
  • Bruss, F. Thomas
  • Rogers, L.C.G.

Abstract

This paper answers a long-standing open question concerning the 1/e-strategy for the problem of best choice. N candidates for a job arrive at times independently uniformly distributed in [0,1]. The interviewer knows how each candidate ranks relative to all others seen so far, and must immediately appoint or reject each candidate as they arrive. The aim is to choose the best overall. The 1/e strategy is to follow the rule: ‘Do nothing until time 1/e, then appoint the first candidate thereafter who is best so far (if any).’

Suggested Citation

  • Bruss, F. Thomas & Rogers, L.C.G., 2022. "The 1/e-strategy is sub-optimal for the problem of best choice under no information," Stochastic Processes and their Applications, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 1059-1067.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:spapps:v:150:y:2022:i:c:p:1059-1067
    DOI: 10.1016/j.spa.2021.04.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304414921000661
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.spa.2021.04.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. T. J. Stewart, 1981. "The Secretary Problem with an Unknown Number of Options," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 130-145, February.
    2. Bruss, F. T. & Rogers, L. C. G., 1991. "Pascal processes and their characterization," Stochastic Processes and their Applications, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 331-338, April.
    3. Bruss, F. Thomas, 1988. "Invariant record processes and applications to best choice modelling," Stochastic Processes and their Applications, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 303-316, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gnedin, Alexander, 2022. "The best choice problem with random arrivals: How to beat the 1/e-strategy," Stochastic Processes and their Applications, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 226-240.
    2. Das, Sanmay & Tsitsiklis, John N., 2010. "When is it important to know you've been rejected? A search problem with probabilistic appearance of offers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(1-2), pages 104-122, May.
    3. Bruss, F. Thomas & Paindaveine, Davy, 2000. "Selecting a sequence of last successes in independent trials," MPRA Paper 21166, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Anton J. Kleywegt & Jason D. Papastavrou, 1998. "The Dynamic and Stochastic Knapsack Problem," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 46(1), pages 17-35, February.
    5. Anton J. Kleywegt & Jason D. Papastavrou, 2001. "The Dynamic and Stochastic Knapsack Problem with Random Sized Items," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 49(1), pages 26-41, February.
    6. Ferenstein, Elzbieta Z. & Krasnosielska, Anna, 2010. "No-information secretary problems with cardinal payoffs and Poisson arrivals," Statistics & Probability Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(3-4), pages 221-227, February.
    7. Tomomi Matsui & Katsunori Ano, 2016. "Lower Bounds for Bruss’ Odds Problem with Multiple Stoppings," Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 41(2), pages 700-714, May.
    8. Alexander Gnedin & Zakaria Derbazi, 2022. "Trapping the Ultimate Success," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Seale, Darryl A. & Rapoport, Amnon, 1997. "Sequential Decision Making with Relative Ranks: An Experimental Investigation of the "Secretary Problem">," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 221-236, March.
    10. Browne, Sid & Bunge, John, 1995. "Random record processes and state dependent thinning," Stochastic Processes and their Applications, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 131-142, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:spapps:v:150:y:2022:i:c:p:1059-1067. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/505572/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.