Before revision: We study experimental design in large-scale stochastic systems with substantial uncertainty and structured cross-unit interference . We consider the problem of a platform that seeks to optimize supply-side payments p in a centralized marketplace where different suppliers interact via their effects on the overall supply-demand equilibrium, and propose a class of local experimentation schemes that can be used to optimize these payments without perturbing the overall market equilibrium.
After revision: We study experimental design in large-scale stochastic systems with substantial uncertainty and structured cross-unit interference , under an assumption that the interference is structured enough that it can be captured using mean-field asymptotics. Our approach enables us to accurately estimate the effect of small changes to system parameters by combining unobstrusive randomization with light-weight modeling, all while remaining in equilibrium. We can then use these estimates to optimize the system by gradient descent. Concretely, we focus on the problem of a platform that seeks to optimize supply-side payments p in a centralized marketplace where different suppliers interact via their effects on the overall supply-demand equilibrium, and propose a class of local experimentation schemes that can be used to optimize these payments without perturbing the overall market equilibrium.