Impact of Biotechnology on Crop Genetic Diversity

Matin Qaim, Cherisa Yarkin and David Zilberman
Additional contact information
Matin Qaim: University of Hohenheim
Cherisa Yarkin: University of California Industry-University Cooperative Research Program, University of California

Chapter Chapter 14 in Agricultural Biodiversity and Biotechnology in Economic Development, 2005, pp 283-307 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract While there are widespread concerns that agricultural biotechnology might contribute to a further erosion of crop genetic diversity, in this chapter it is argued that the opposite could actually be true. Biotechnology allows for separation between the act of developing novel crop traits and the process of breeding plant varieties. As a result, a given biotechnology innovation may be incorporated into a large number of locally adapted plant varieties. This is confirmed by first empirical evidence from different countries. However, a theoretical model is developed which shows that the outcome is situation specific and depends on various institutional factors. Local research capacities, intellectual property policies, and biosafety regulation schemes are identified as important determinants for the actual impact of biotechnology on crop genetic diversity. Policy implications are discussed with a particular emphasis on developing countries.

Keywords: biodiversity; biosafety; biotechnology; intellectual property rights; plant breeding; transaction costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:nrmchp:978-0-387-25409-8_14

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9780387254098

DOI: 10.1007/0-387-25409-9_14

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Natural Resource Management and Policy from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().