Solving multidimensional bioeconomic problems with singular-perturbation reduction methods: Application to managing pest resistance to pesticidal crops

We investigate the application of ‘singular-perturbation’ reduction methods from the dynamical-systems literature to solve continuous-time multidimensional bioeconomic models resulting from integrating economics with increasingly complex biological structures. These methods reduce multidimensional solution space to the lower-dimensional subspace confining long-term dynamics. They arise naturally in problems with state variables evolving on widely disparate time scales. In particular, we demonstrate how the methods reduce the solution space of a linear-control specification—characterized by two state variables adjusting at widely disparate rates—to a single differential equation in the slow variable. All other system variables are determined by algebraic equations. We apply singular-perturbation methods to investigate the optimal management of pest resistance to pesticidal crops. The pest population evolves on a fast-time scale, while the populationʹs genetic composition evolves on a slow-time scale. In comparison with past work, we can more fully characterize the continuous-time dynamics associated with a complex genetic specification.