Bandits, Budgets, and the Art of Waiting: How Delay-Aware Algorithms Rewire Resource Allocation
Budgets arrive before outcomes. That is the small administrative tragedy behind many allocation systems. A university decides which students receive financial aid before it knows who will persist. A workforce programme assigns training slots before employment outcomes appear. A healthcare provider prioritises interventions before the full treatment effect is visible. The decision is immediate; the evidence drips in later, usually after the next decision has already been made. Naturally, many algorithms pretend this is not happening. Very elegant. Also very wrong. ...