Disease and Behavioral Dynamics for Brucellosis Control in Elk and Cattle in the Greater Yellowstone Area
By: Xie, Fang; Horan, Richard D.
Cite
Citation
Xie, Fang; Horan, Richard D., Disease and Behavioral Dynamics for Brucellosis Control in Elk and Cattle in the Greater Yellowstone Area, Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Volume 34, Issue 1, April 2009, Pages 11-33
Explore Authors:
Abstract
This paper investigates private responses and ecological impacts of policies proposed to confront the problem of brucellosis being spread from elk to cattle in Wyoming. The policies consist of combinations of changes in elk feeding and population levels. Farmers' responses to these dynamics are modeled along with the associated impacts to livestock population dynamics. Our findings suggest that feedbacks between jointly determined disease dynamics and decentralized economic behavior matter, and the elk feedgrounds do not actually generate economic harm to the individual farmers.