The Sample Complexity of Online Contract Design

Understand

We study the hidden-action principal-agent problem in an online setting.

• In each round, the principal posts a contract that specifies the payment to the agent based on each outcome.
• The agent then makes a strategic choice of action that maximizes her own utility, but the action is not directly observable by the principal.
• The principal observes the outcome and receives utility from the agent's choice of action.