A Discrete Time Population Control Model with Set-Up Cost.
Purchase Print Copy
| Format | List Price | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add to Cart | Paperback13 pages | $20.00 | $16.00 20% Web Discount |
A discrete time stochastic model is often used to describe a natural animal, pest, or epidemic population. Control action, representing harvesting, exterminating, etc., can be taken periodically to reduce the current population level, and so modify the future growth of the population. Dynamic programming can be used to determine optimal control policies for models where growth and control produce economically measurable benefits and/or costs. When controlling action incurs a setup charge plus a cost component linear in the amount of state reduction produced, the optimal policy is found to be characterized by a pair ([s] sub [n], [S] sub [n]), where reduction is made in period [n] to state [s] sub [n] if the native population is found to be above state [S] sub [n]. Analogy with inventory theory is exploited in proving the result. (Prepared for publication in [Operations Research] and presentation at the 44th National ORSA meeting in November 1973.) 13 pp. Ref.
This report is part of the RAND Corporation Paper series. The paper was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.