Risk-sensitive control for a class of nonlinear systems with multiplicative noise

In this paper, we consider the problem of optimal control for a class of nonlinear stochastic systems with multiplicative noise. The nonlinearity consists of quadratic terms in the state and control variables. The optimality criteria are of a risk-sensitive and generalised risk-sensitive type. The optimal control is found in an explicit closed-form by the completion of squares and the change of measure methods. As applications, we outline two special cases of our results. We show that a subset of the class of models which we consider leads to a generalised quadratic-affine term structure model (QATSM) for interest rates. We also demonstrate how our results lead to generalisation of exponential utility as a criterion in optimal investment. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved