On the Optimal Scheduling of Attention

Kfir Eliaz, Daniel Fershtman and Alexander Frug

No 16364, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We consider a decision-maker sequentially choosing which task to attend to when payoffs depend on both the chosen and unchosen tasks. We show that when tasks are substitutes (complements) such that the flow payoffs are a sum (product) of the tasks’ outputs, the optimal policy is an index policy, generalizing the independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) property known in the classic multi-armed bandit problem. We illustrate the usefulness of our model through several applications, including repeated bargaining, dynamic occupational choice, on-the-job training, R\&D, and dynamic supervision.

Keywords: Allocation of attention; Scheduling; Time management; Multitasking; Task juggling; Multi-armed bandits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-07
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