Product Differentiation Choices and Biotechnology Adoption

Product Differentiation Choices and Biotechnology Adoption
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2014
Genre:
ISBN:

The advances in agricultural biotechnology have brought opportunities and challenges to the agricultural input industries including the seed sector over the last few decades. The U.S. seed market has experienced major structural adjustments during this period. Since 1996 the rapid adoption of biotechnology in U.S. agriculture has been associated with mergers and acquisitions, leading to a more concentrated seed/biotech industry. It raises questions about the possible exercise of market power in the U.S. biotech seed industry. Will an integrated biotech seed company differ from an independent one in choosing the line of seed products? How do U.S. farmers evaluate different types of corn seeds? And how are the welfare gains from technological improvement distributed among market participants? This dissertation tried to answer these questions by investigating the product line choices of seed companies under imperfect competition and farmers' adoption of conventional and genetically modified (GM) seeds in the U.S. corn seed market during 2000-2007. In Chapter 2, I examine seed firms' product choices by considering concentration in the upstream biotech market, geographical competition, firm and market characteristics, and technological advancement, by using a system dynamic panel data model. I find that market competition has discrepant impacts on the product choices of biotech firms and independent companies. Firms' willingness to carry more varieties also differs by their market shares. In Chapter 3, I construct a multiple discrete choice model with random coefficients to estimate farmers' demand. I further impose a flexible correlation structure among products' observable characteristics, and panel effects on individuals' seed choices. I use the simulated Generalized Method of Moments for estimation. Results indicate that farmers' preferences are shifted away from conventional and single traited seeds to newly-introduced multiple traited ones. Their preferences could also become unstable by technology development. In Chapter 4, I investigate the welfare distribution of biotechnology advances among market participants and the welfare changes when biotech firms specialize in GM seeds and independent firms specialize in conventional seeds. I find that the benefits of biotechnology advances are received mostly by medium-to-large farms and a few biotech companies. Biotech firms also benefit from market segmentation.

The Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnology

The Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnology
Author: Robert E. Evenson
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2004-03-29
Genre: Agricultural biotechnology
ISBN: 9780851999708

The regulatory systems in place prior to the development and expansion of agricultural biotechnology are still responding to this new form of technology. Such systems include trade law, intellectual property law, contract law, environmental regulations and biosafety regulations.This book reviews these regulatory changes and consists of 24 chapters developed from papers presented at a conference of the International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research, held in Italy in July 2002. It primarily considers the relationship between these changes and innovation, market development and international trade.

Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries

Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries
Author: Matin Qaim
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2013-03-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1475731787

Biotechnology offers great potential to contribute to sustainable agricultural growth, food security and poverty alleviation in developing countries. Yet there are economic and institutional constraints at national and international levels that inhibit the poor people's access to appropriate biotechnological innovations. Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries: Towards Optimizing the Benefits for the Poor addresses the major constraints. Twenty-three chapters, written by a wide range of scholars and stake-holders, provide an up-to-date analysis of agricultural biotechnology developments in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Besides the expected economic and social impacts, the challenges for an adjustment of the international research structure are discussed, with a special focus on intellectual property rights and the roles of the main research organizations. Harnessing the comparative advantages of the public and private sectors through innovative partnerships is the only way forward to optimize the benefits of biotechnology for the poor. The book will be an invaluable resource for both academics and policy-makers concerned with agricultural biotechnology in context of developing-countries.

Biotechnology Regulation and Trade

Biotechnology Regulation and Trade
Author: Stuart J. Smyth
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2017-03-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3319532952

This book discusses the regulatory and trade challenges facing the global adoption of biotechnological products and offers strategies for overcoming these obstacles and moving towards greater global food security. The first section of the book establishes the context of the conflict, discussing the challenges of global governance, international trade, and the history of regulation of genetically modified (GM) crops. In this section, the authors emphasize the shift from exclusively science-based regulation to the more socio-economically focused framework established by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, which was adopted in 2000. The second section of the book provides a snapshot of the current state of international GM crop adoption and regulation, highlighting the US, Canada, and the EU. The final section of the book identifies options for breaking the gridlock of regulation and trade that presently exist. This book adds to the current literature by providing new information about innovative agricultural technologies and encouraging debate by providing an alternative to the narratives espoused by environmental non-governmental organizations. This book will appeal to students of economics, political science, and policy analysis, as well as members of regulatory agencies and agricultural industry firms.

Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology in Economic Development

Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology in Economic Development
Author: Joseph Cooper
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2006-05-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0387254099

This volume summarizes the current state of knowledge in the economic literature of management of agricultural biotechnology and biodiversity in agricultural and economic development. It identifies key issues confronting policy makers in managing biodiversity and biotechnology and provides a broad, multi-disciplinary analysis of the linkage between the two. It is especially innovative in its use of plant genetic resource management as the basis for is analysis.

Handbook on Agriculture, Biotechnology and Development

Handbook on Agriculture, Biotechnology and Development
Author: Stuart J. Smyth
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 881
Release: 2014-03-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0857938355

This book is a compendium of knowledge, experience and insight on agriculture, biotechnology and development. Beginning with an account of GM crop adoptions and attitudes towards them, the book assesses numerous crucial processes, concluding with detai