Planned Obsolescence and Plant Breeding: Empirical Evidence from Wheat Breeding in the UK (1965-1995)

Dwijen Rangnekar

No 2000-8, Economics Discussion Papers from School of Economics, Kingston University London

Abstract: Models predict that oligopolists producing a durable good have an incentive to reduce the durability of the good as a means to appropriate the returns to investments in R&D. Using these theoretical insights, the paper empirically examines these strategies of appropriation in wheat breeding. Breeders face a unique appropriation problem because plant varieties (a durable good) demonstrate easy reproducibility and heritability of characteristics. In addition, the available legal scope of protection, till recent revisions, has tended to provide limited protection compared to protection available in other sectors. Strategies of planned obsolescence are indicated in the effort to reduce the durability of plant varieties so as to induce regular replacement purchases by farmers. Empirical evidence of the strategy is provided in decreasing tendency of the market-weighted age of varieties, which falls from 13 years in the 1960s to 5 years in the 1990s. In addition, the paper reports evidence of a lax approach towards developing broad-based disease resistance, which can be interpreted as a means to support the strategy of planned obsolescence.

Keywords: Planned Obsolescence; Innovation; Plant Breeding (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L13 O31 Q10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2000-01-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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