Biotechnology, Agriculture and the Developing World The Distribution Implications of Technological Change

About this book

How will the industrial changes implicit within new biotechnologies affect modern agriculture? This book investigates these changes and provides an economic analysis of the industrial and distributional impacts of new biotechnologies, addressing in detail the significant consequences for developing countries. One of the most important aspects of biotechnological change is the development of new technologies for appropriating the value of innovations in related industries. In agriculture these new appropriation technologies are known as "genetic use restriction technologies", which enable the innovator to capture the value of innovative plant varieties by preventing their reproduction after purchase. This book analyzes the implications of such technologies in terms of global agricultural production, the rate of innovation at the technological frontier and, in particular, the diffusion of these innovations across the globe. The authors set forth the economic and institutional framework within which innovations are occurring, focusing on the impacts on the least technologically advanced nations and their incentives to conserve genetic resources for use in future research and development. This book should be widely read by agricultural and resource economists, development economists, and scholars and researchers of environmental economics. Policymakers in developing countries should also gain valuable insights into the distribution of the potential benefits from biotechnology.

Contents

Introduction - biotechnologies and developing countries - how will the anticipated industrial changes in agriculture impact on developing countries?, Timothy Swanson. Part 1 Setting the scene -the framework for considering biotechnology's impacts: population growth and agricultural intensification in developing countries, Nadia Cuffaro; the impacts of GURTs - agricultural R&D and appropriation mechanisms, Timothy Swanson and Timo Goeschl; agricultural biotechnology and developing countries - proprietary knowledge and diffusion of benefits, Charles Spillane. Part 2 A case study on terminators - the impacts of biotechnologies on technology transfer: the impact of terminator gene technologies on developing countries - a legal analysis, William Fisher, III; impact of terminator technologies in developing countries - a framework for economic analysis, C.S. Srinivasan and Colin Thirtle; the impact of GURTs on developing countries - a preliminary assessment, Timothy Swanson and Timo Goeschl; the impact of genetic use restriction technologies - a forecast, Timo Goeschl and Timothy Swanson. Part 3 Biotechnology and biodiversity - the impacts of biotechnologies on conservation of genetic resources: key issues in using molecular techniques to improve conservation and use of plant genetic resources, Carmen de Vicente et al; biotechnology and traditional breeding in sub-Saharan Africa, Vittorio Santaniello; biodiversity, biotechnology and IPRs, Anil Gupta. Part 4 Conclusions: policy options for the biotechnology revolution - what can be done to address the distributional implications of biotechnologies?, Timothy Swanson and Timo Goeschl.

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