We illuminate several important aspects of the nature and causes of growth and institutional change. To do this, we focus on the role resource pressures have played in the historic development of Hawaii’s institutions. We discuss the Hawaiian story in the context of the natural co-evolution of...

Once established, invasive species can rapidly and irreversibly alter ecosystems and degrade the value of ecosystem services. Optimal control of an exotic pest solves for a trajectory of removals that minimizes the present value of removal costs and residual damages from the remaining pest...

Eleutherodactylus coqui, a small frog native to Puerto Rico, was introduced to Hawaii in the late 1980s, presumably as a hitchhiker on plant material from the Caribbean or Florida (Kraus et al. 1999). The severity of the frogs' songs on the island of Hawaii has lead to a hypothesis touted both...

We develop an integrated model for the prevention and control of an invasive species. The generality of the model allows its use for both existing and potential threats to the system of interest. The deterministic nature of arrivals in the model enables clear examination of the tradeoffs...

Invasive species change ecosystems and the economic services such ecosystems provide. Optimal policy will minimize the expected damages and costs of prevention and control. We seek to explain policy outcomes as a function of biological and economic factors, using the case of Hawaii to...