Optimal insurance demand under marked point processes shocks: a dynamic programming duality approach.

link: http://arxiv.org/abs/1008.5058
Abstract

We study the stochastic control problem of maximizing expected utility from
terminal wealth under a non-bankruptcy constraint. The wealth process is
subject to shocks produced by a general marked point process. The problem of
the agent is to derive the optimal insurance strategy which allows "lowering"
the level of the shocks. This optimization problem is related to a suitable
dual stochastic control problem in which the delicate boundary constraints
disappear. We characterize the dual value function as the unique viscosity
solution of the corresponding a Hamilton Jacobi Bellman Variational Inequality
(HJBVI in short).