Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Implications Of Simultaneity In A Physical Damage Function, Kelly M. Cobourn, Hannah J. Burrack, Rachael E. Goodhue, Jeffrey C. Williams, Frank G. Zalom

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A modeler must often rely on highly simplified representations of complex physical systems when analyzing associated economic issues. Herein, we consider a management problem in which a bioeconomic system exhibits simultaneity in processes governing productivity and damage. In this case, it may benefit the producer to sacrifice productivity to reduce the costs associated with increased damage. We specify empirically a structural damage relationship that explains the biological process by which an invasive species damages a host and estimate the structural model and its reduced form with an exceptional dataset on infestation of olives by the olive fruit fly. We contrast …