Intergration of Biological and Economic Processes: A Game Theory Approach

Biological diversity on the planet is a result of billions of years of evolution and ecologists, such as John Maynard Smith, are using evolutionary game theory to explain the role of animal behaviour in the evolution process. Game theory, following the work of von Neumann, Morgenstern, Nash and others, is gaining support as a methodology for modelling economic behaviour. As economic activity is a major factor in the decline in biological diversity, the nexus between the disciplines of economics and ecology needs to be explored. The survival of species, and so the maintenance of biodiversity, depends on the behaviour of individual organisms and the strategies of species to avoid extinction in human-modified environments. The paper begins by exploring the differences between the objectives and strategies of individual organisms, species and economic players. Understanding these differences is important if we are to model the linkages between ecological and economic processes. Recognising the limited level of biological knowledge on the interaction of species and the natural environment with economic processes, the paper then explores the possibility of combining biological and economic games to form bioeconomic gaming models. Such models are useful in determining the consequences of species loss, both on other species and the long-term sustainability of economic activity, as well as highlighting knowledge gaps where further research is required.