Publication

We analyze a bioeconomic model of a multiple-host disease problem involving wildlife and livestock. The social planner's choices include targeted (i.e., infectious versus healthy) livestock harvests, non-targeted wildlife harvests, environmental habitat variables, and on-farm biosecurity to prevent cross-species contacts. The model is applied to bovine tuberculosis among Michigan white-tailed deer and cattle. We find optimal controls may target the livestock sector more stringently when the livestock sector exhibits low value relative to the wildlife sector. This is in contrast with the conventional wisdom on the issue that controls should primarily target wildlife species that serve as disease reservoirs.