Dynamic programming and Bellman Equation

 

We consider the following maximization problem with log utility function

 

 

subject to  and  for simplicity.

 

There is no expectation but we have two kinds of states alternately. That is

 

   for t=0,2,4,6,. . .

and

   for t=1,3,5,7,. . .

 

We can construct the following two Bellman equations

 

and

where value functions appear alternately.

 

We just guess

 

 and

 

That is

 

 

Now we get FOC w.r.t. respectively. They are

 

        (*)

and

         (**)

 

Plugging (*) and (**) into Bellman equation at optimum, we get

 

 

They are

 

Comparing coefficients in each kind, we get

 

So

Similarly

 

The rest is

 

and

 

So

 

We have solved out and we can say that the guess is right.

 

From (*) and (**), we have

 

 

and