Decision-making in livestock biosecurity practices amidst environmental and social uncertainty: Evidence from an experimental game

Authors

Scott C. Merrill, University of Vermont
Christopher J. Koliba, University of Vermont
Susan M. Moegenburg, University of Vermont
Asim Zia, University of Vermont
Jason Parker, The Ohio State University at Mansfield
Timothy Sellnow, University of Central Florida
Serge Wiltshire, University of Vermont
Gabriela Bucini, University of Vermont
Caitlin Danehy, University of Vermont
Julia M. Smith, University of Vermont

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2019

Abstract

Livestock industries are vulnerable to disease threats, which can cost billions of dollars and have substantial negative social ramifications. Losses are mitigated through increased use of disease-related biosecurity practices, making increased biosecurity an industry goal. Currently, there is no industry-wide standard for sharing information about disease incidence or on-site biosecurity strategies, resulting in uncertainty regarding disease prevalence and biosecurity strategies employed by industry stakeholders. Using an experimental simulation game, with primarily student participants, we examined willingness to invest in biosecurity when confronted with disease outbreak scenarios. We varied the scenarios by changing the information provided about 1) disease incidence and 2) biosecurity strategy or response by production facilities to the threat of disease. Here we show that willingness to invest in biosecurity increases with increased information about disease incidence, but decreases with increased information about biosecurity practices used by nearby facilities. Thus, the type or context of the uncertainty confronting the decision maker may be a major factor influencing behavior. Our findings suggest that policies and practices that encourage greater sharing of disease incidence information should have the greatest benefit for protecting herd health.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Rights Information

© 2019 Merrill et al.

Recommended Citation

Merrill SC, Koliba CJ, Moegenburg SM, Zia A, Parker J, Sellnow T, Wiltshire S, Bucini G, Danehy C, Smith JM. Decision-making in livestock biosecurity practices amidst environmental and social uncertainty: Evidence from an experimental game. PloS one. 2019 Apr 17;14(4):e0214500.

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0214500