Abstract
We study the problem of precluding biological invasions caused by ships transporting internationally traded goods in containers between different regions of the world. Using the long run expected net cost (LRENC) of inspections as the apposite managerial objective, we address the following important question: given that inspection is a cyclical activity, is the LRENC lower when a port manager’s inspector inspects cargo upon the arrival of a specified number of containers (container policy) or is this LRENC lower when this inspector inspects cargo at fixed points in time (temporal policy)? We construct a queuing theoretic model and show that in an inspection cycle, irrespective of whether the inspection policy choice is made on the basis of an explicit optimization exercise or on the basis of rules of thumb, the container policy is superior to the temporal policy because the container policy results in lower LRENC from inspection activities.
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Notes
In the rest of this paper, we shall use the terms “alien species,” “invasive species,” and “non-native species” interchangeably.
We shall soon describe the port manager’s optimization problem as a long run expected net cost minimization problem. This notwithstanding, the reader should note that without any substantive changes, we could also have delineated this manager’s optimization problem as a long run expected net benefit maximization problem.
The reader can check to see that the relevant second order condition is satisfied.
The reader should note the difference in the meanings of the word “cycle” in this section and Sect. 3. In Sect. 3, a new cycle began every time the inspector returned to the inspection facility. In contrast, in this section, a new cycle begins every time the inspector leaves the inspection facility.
The reader can check to see that the pertinent second order condition is satisfied.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank George Christakos and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on a previous version of this paper. In addition, Batabyal acknowledges financial support from the USDAs PREISM program by means of Cooperative Agreement 43-3AEM-4-80100 and from the Gosnell endowment at RIT. The usual absolution applies.
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Batabyal, A.A., Nijkamp, P. On container versus time based inspection policies in invasive species management. Stoch Environ Res Ris Assess 19, 340–347 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-005-0239-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-005-0239-3