Wald's Equation - A Proof Using The Optional Stopping Theorem

A Proof Using The Optional Stopping Theorem

Assume (1), (5), (8), (10), (11) and (12). Using assumption (1), define the sequence of random variables

Assumption (11) implies that the conditional expectation of Xn given Fn–1 equals E almost surely for every nN, hence (Mn)nN0 is a martingale with respect to the filtration (Fn)nN0 by assumption (12). Assumptions (5), (8) and (10) make sure that we can apply the optional stopping theorem, hence MN = SNTN is integrable and

(13)

Due to assumption (8),

and due to assumption (5) this upper bound is integrable. Hence we can add the expectation of TN to both sides of Equation (13) and obtain by linearity

Remark: Note that this proof does not cover the above example with dependent terms.

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