# Multistage Stochastic Optimization via Kernels

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.06515 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.06515/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 4 of its 30 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 11 Mar 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [From Predictive to Prescriptive Analytics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1402.5481/) (2014)
- [Dynamic optimization with side information](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.07307/) (2019)
- [Parsimonious Online Learning with Kernels via Sparse Projections in Function Space](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.04111/) (2016)
- [From Predictions to Prescriptions in Multistage Optimization Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.11637/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Prescribe-then-Select: Adaptive Policy Selection for Contextual Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.08194/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We develop a non-parametric, data-driven, tractable approach for solving multistage stochastic optimization problems in which decisions do not affect the uncertainty. The proposed framework represents the decision variables as elements of a reproducing kernel Hilbert space and performs functional stochastic gradient descent to minimize the empirical regularized loss. By incorporating sparsification techniques based on function subspace projections we are able to overcome the computational complexity that standard kernel methods introduce as the data size increases. We prove that the proposed approach is asymptotically optimal for multistage stochastic optimization with side information. Across various computational experiments on stochastic inventory management problems, {our method performs well in multidimensional settings} and remains tractable when the data size is large. Lastly, by computing lower bounds for the optimal loss of the inventory control problem, we show that the proposed method produces decision rules with near-optimal average performance.