Economic framework for decision making in biological control

Economic analyses are a valuable input into the decision-making process for biological control programs. The challenge though is how to incorporate qualitative risk assessments of biological control programs, or the risk of nontargeted effects into mathematical economic models. A technique known as threshold cost/benefit analysis is presented and an example on how to apply this method is illustrated using the yellow starthistle biological control program. The results show that incorporating uncertainty into the analysis can have a significant impact on the decision to undertake a biological control program.