[EBOOK] REGULATING AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: ECONOMICS AND POLICY, EDITED BY DAVID ZILBERMAN ET AL., PUBLISHED BY SPRINGER

Agricultural biotechnologies apply modern knowledge in molecular and cell biology to produce new varieties and similar genetic materials. The use of genetically modified (GM) crop varieties has grown dramatically since they were introduced in 1995, and large portions of the land allocated to corn, soybeans, and cotton are grown with these varieties. The evidence from the United States, Canada, China, India, Brazil, and Argentina suggests that these applications of biotechnology in agriculture increase yield, reduce the use of pesticides, and save production costs.

Many expect agricultural biotechnologies to play a crucial role in meeting growing food demands to accommodate population and income growth in the future and, at the same time, to contribute to containing the environmental footprint of agriculture and to provide new sources of biofuels. Yet, others view agricultural biotechnologies as inadequately tested, dangerous technologies that pose unforeseen risks and that must be handled with the utmost of care. These differences in perspective have contributed to policy debates on the regulation of agricultural biotechnologies and to regulatory differences across locations.

Even when they provide net economic benefits, new technologies almost always generate gainers and losers where some of the negative consequences may involve external effects on human health or the environment. Under classical theory, whether externalities are actual or perceived, regulation is typically justified as a means of correcting such market distortions and enhancing net social benefits from production and consumption, regardless of distributional impacts. Under interest group theory (Becker 1983), individuals and groups support political activities that are in their best interest. Regulations are viewed as means of redistribution and are the consequence of influence by politically powerful interest groups who benefit as a resuh, often with net social loss. Understanding the political economy of current regulations likely calls for combining both approaches.

Whether primarily for efficiency or distributional reasons, the development, release, adoption, and application of agricultural biotechnologies are increasingly subject to public scrutiny and regulation. Compliance with these regulations adds considerably to the time lags and costs borne in bringing new biotechnology products to market. Because of differences in interest groups, distribution, and local circumstances, it is not surprising that biotechnology regulations differ among countries, among states within countries, and among biotechnologies. The regulations modify the rate and form of technological change and the distribution of benefits and costs. Without doubt, the economic consequences are significant, although the full consequences of technological regulation in agriculture are not well understood.

The rapid evolution of agricultural biotechnologies has led to the emergence of significant bodies of research on various aspects of the economics of crop biotechnologies, including the adoption and impact, consumer and producer attitudes, and the management of intellectual property rights. However, comparatively little research has been conducted on the economics of the regulation. This book aims to fill this void and provide a foundation for further research on the economics of regulation of agricultural biotechnologies. The chapters of the book are based on a three-day conference held in Arlington, Virginia, on March 10-12, 2005, that presented and discussed methods and current issues in the "Economics of Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnologies," with an emphasis on drawing together the collecfive state of wisdom on forces shaping regulation of agricultural biotechnologies and the consequences for U.S. agriculture and the food system.

The objective is to increase general understanding of the issues associated with regulation of agricultural biotechnologies. Positive and normative perspectives are presented on how and why societies do and could manage these technologies, and the actual and potential consequences in terms of benefits and costs to consumers, producers, innovators, and the environment

The book is written mostly by economists, but is aimed at the wider audience of educated people interested in the policy debate on the future of crop biotechnology

technology. A unique feature of this book is that we integrate and build upon bodies of literature from disciplines both within and outside economics. We build upon the vast literature on the economics of agricultural research and technical change, but we also provide perspectives on the problems and potential of agricultural biotechnology and its health implications from a contributing plant biologist, public health scholars, and a policymaker. Several lines of economic study are integrated: (i) new methods of environmental economics, in particular, the economics of pest control and resistance management; (ii) new methods of evaluating consumer preferences and willingness to pay for environmental amenities and product quality; (iii) public economics for policy design; and (iv) political economy to assess policy viability within a political structure.

This chapter provides an introduction to the rest of the book in several ways. First, it reports on the conference that provided the genesis of the work. Second, it presents an "economic way of thinking" about the regulation of agricultural biotechnology, which provides some organizing principles for the ideas in the book and its structure. Third, it provides a summary description of the main elements of regulation of U.S. agricultural biotechnology, which serves as the context for many of the chapters concerned with U.S. agriculture, and as a contrast to regulations in other countries reported in other chapters. Finally, it provides an overview of the chapters that make up the rest of the book, and a brief synthesis and synopsis of what it all means.

[EBOOK] REGULATING AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY: ECONOMICS AND POLICY, EDITED BY DAVID ZILBERMAN ET AL., PUBLISHED BY SPRINGER

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