The Economics of Managing Biotechnologies

by Swanson, Timothy M.

• ISBN13: 9781402004995
• ISBN10: 1402004990
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Pub

Summary

The advent of new biotechnologies implies significant changes in the world, both biologically and industrially. Biologically, these new technologies represent changes on a scale never before witnessed in the context of evolutionary systems. How these systems will respond to these changes is uncertain and potentially very significant. The first part of this volume addresses these issues in a series of chapters considering the manner in which societies might analyse and manage these systemic responses to biotechnological changes. The second part of the volume addresses the industrial issues concerning biotechnologies. One of the primary motivations for these changes is to enhance the appropriability of the value of innovation occurring within the life sciences sectors. Changing to a property rights-based system of biotechnology has implications for the nature of research and development within these sectors, and the diffusion and distribution of its benefits across the globe. Another set of chapters in this volume sets out a framework for considering these important industrial issues. The volume is the outcome of a two-year project on the economics of managing biotechnologies in agriculture. It is recommended to academics and policy makers interested in the issues concerning society's options in the management of this process of technological change.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
List of Contributors	p. xv
Surveying the Issues: Technologies, Biology and Economics
Biosafety in Agricultural Biotechnology: Balancing Social and Environmental Impacts	p. 3
Pest Resistance in Agriculture: An Economic Perspective	p. 51
Biotechnology for Planted Forests: An Assessment of Biological, Economic and Environmental Possibilities and Limitations	p. 71
Managing Technology: The Economics of Managing Technological Developments
On the Economic Limits to Technological Potential: Will Industry Resolve the Resistance Problem?	p. 99
Providing the Correct Incentives for Genetic Modification	p. 129
Decision Making under Temporal Uncertainty and Irreversibility: Benchmark Values for the Release of Transgenic Crops in the EU	p. 145
Managing Biology: The Economics of Managing Biological Resistance
Managing Pest Resistance: Timing the Initiation of Refuge Areas	p. 159
Managing the Risk of European Corn Borer Resistance to Bt Corn	p. 171
Managing Industry: The Economics of Managing Industrial Impacts
Monopolisation and the Regulation of Genetically Modified Crops: An Economic Model	p. 197
The Diffusion of Benefits from Biotechnological Developments: The Impact of Use Restrictions on the Distribution of Benefits	p. 219
Policy Conclusions
Plants and Biotechnologies	p. 251
Regulatory Harmony--Who's Calling the Tune?	p. 255
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