Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 July 2016
Let (X t )t≥0 be a continuous-time irreducible Markov chain on a finite state space E, let v: E→ℝ\{0}, and let (φt )t≥0 be defined by φt =∫0 t v(X s )d s. We consider the case in which the process (φt )t≥0 is oscillating and that in which (φt )t≥0 has a negative drift. In each of these cases, we condition the process (X t ,φt )t≥0 on the event that (φt )t≥0 hits level y before hitting 0 and prove weak convergence of the conditioned process as y→∞. In addition, we show the relationship between the conditioning of the process (φt )t≥0 with a negative drift to oscillate and the conditioning of it to stay nonnegative for a long time, and the relationship between the conditioning of (φt )t≥0 with a negative drift to drift to ∞ and the conditioning of it to hit large levels before hitting 0.