Heuristic assessment of choices for risk network control

Abstract

Data-driven risk networks describe many complex system dynamics arising in fields such as epidemiology and ecology. They lack explicit dynamics and have multiple sources of cost, both of which are beyond the current scope of traditional control theory. We construct the global economy risk network by combining the consensus of experts from the World Economic Forum with risk activation data to define its topology and interactions. Many of these risks, including extreme weather and drastic inflation, pose significant economic costs when active. We introduce a method for converting network interaction data into continuous dynamics to which we apply optimal control. We contribute the first method for constructing and controlling risk network dynamics based on empirically collected data. We simulate applying this method to control the spread of COVID-19 and show that the choice of risks through which the network is controlled has significant influence on both the cost of control and the total cost of keeping network stable. We additionally describe a heuristic for choosing the risks trough which the network is controlled, given a general risk network.