Convergence Analysis of Prediction Markets via Randomized Subspace Descent

Abstract Prediction markets are economic mechanisms for aggregating information about future events through sequential interactions with traders. The pricing mechanisms in these markets are known to be related to optimization algorithms in machine learning and through these connections we have some understanding of how equilibrium market prices relate to the beliefs of the traders in a market. However, little is known about rates and guarantees for the convergence of these sequential mechanisms, and two recent papers cite this as an important open question. In this paper we show how some previously studied prediction market trading models can be understood as a natural generalization of randomized coordinate descent which we call randomized subspace descent (RSD). We establish convergence rates for RSD and leverage them to prove rates for the two prediction market models above, answering the open questions. Our results extend beyond standard centralized markets to arbitrary trade networks

On the Road to Making Science of “Art”: Risk Bias in Market Scoring Rules

We study market scoring rule (MSR) prediction markets in the presence of risk-averse or risk-seeking agents that have unknown yet bounded risk preferences. It is well known that if agents can be prescreened, then MSRs can be corrected to elicit agents’ beliefs. However, agents cannot always be screened, and instead, an online MSR mechanism is needed. We show that agents’ submitted reports always deviate from their beliefs, unless their beliefs are identical to the current market estimate. This means, in most cases it is impossible for a MSR prediction market to elicit an individual agent’s exact belief. To analyze this issue, we introduce a measure to calculate the deviation between an agent’s reported belief and personal belief. We further derive the necessary and sufficient conditions for a MSR to yield a lower deviation relative to another MSR. We find that the deviation of a MSR prediction market is related to the liquidity provided in the MSR’s corresponding cost-function prediction market. We use the relation between deviation and liquidity to present a systematic approach to help determine the amount of liquidity required for cost-function prediction markets, an activity that up to this point has been described as “art” in the literature.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canad