Abstract
This paper identifies several areas where economic research can make a difference in agricultural biotechnology’s evolution and suggests fields of related research emphasis. Also, methodologies are identified that need improvement to provide guidance for managing biotechnology policies. First of all, recent trends in biotechnology research that may affect agriculture in developing countries are discussed. The paper then outlines several types of economic research on biotechnology, including technology adoption, ex ante analysis of biotechnology’s economic impacts and institutional and policy designs. It is argued and shown that economic analysis can help to improve (i) the allocation of research resources, (ii) intellectual property rights arrangements, (iii) technology transfer, (iv) the structure of private and public research, (v) the conservation of genetic materials, (vi) the farm-level adoption of biotechnology innovations and (vii) the direct and indirect impact of biotechnologies on farmers and consumers.
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Graff, G., Zilberman, D., Yarkin, C. (2000). The Roles of Economic Research in the Evolution of International Agricultural Biotechnology. In: Qaim, M., Krattiger, A.F., von Braun, J. (eds) Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3178-1_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3178-1_8
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