Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
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Optimal Resource Allocation for Defense of Targets Based on Differing Measures of Attractiveness
Article first published online: 28 JUN 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01053.x
© 2008 Society for Risk Analysis
Additional Information
How to Cite
Bier, V. M., Haphuriwat, N., Menoyo, J., Zimmerman, R. and Culpen, A. M. (2008), Optimal Resource Allocation for Defense of Targets Based on Differing Measures of Attractiveness. Risk Analysis, 28: 763–770. doi: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2008.01053.x
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Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
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Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, New York, NY, USA.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 28 JUN 2008
- Article first published online: 28 JUN 2008
- Abstract
- Article
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Keywords:
- Critical infrastructure;
- resource allocation;
- Urban Areas Security Initiative
This article describes the results of applying a rigorous computational model to the problem of the optimal defensive resource allocation among potential terrorist targets. In particular, our study explores how the optimal budget allocation depends on the cost effectiveness of security investments, the defender's valuations of the various targets, and the extent of the defender's uncertainty about the attacker's target valuations. We use expected property damage, expected fatalities, and two metrics of critical infrastructure (airports and bridges) as our measures of target attractiveness. Our results show that the cost effectiveness of security investment has a large impact on the optimal budget allocation. Also, different measures of target attractiveness yield different optimal budget allocations, emphasizing the importance of developing more realistic terrorist objective functions for use in budget allocation decisions for homeland security.