Although the benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops have been well documented, how do farmers manage the risk of new technology in the early stages of technology adoption has received less attention. We compare the total factor productivity (TFP) of cotton to other major crops (wheat, rice,...

Modern crop biotechnology is being considered as a novel solution to the long-standing problems of food insecurity, low crop productivity, pest and disease prevalence, and micronutrient deficiency, particularly in developing and climate-vulnerable economies. Empirical evidence of its benefits...

It is now widely acknowledged that biotechnology will have significant implications for development. While biotechnology's potential for low income economies is still the subject of controversy, this paper argues that it is precisely in these countries that food and agriculture related...

"This volume concentrates on the recent scientific advancements in agricultural biotechnology and reintegrates it with socio-economic, industrial and intellectual property aspects of agricultural biotechnology and its implications for accomplishing the sustainable development goals. Adopting a...

Pricing of biotechnology innovation under a patent grant is reconsidered in a model with uncertain returns and irreversible costs and benefits. Past results on restricted monopoly pricing in the presence of competing technologies showed that pricing power is reduced. The timing of adoption of an...

Despite years of scientific effort to develop useful and safe biotech crops, ideologies have prevailed and genetically modified (GM-)crops have still not been fully accepted by today's society. This leads one to reflect on the role of Science in society, on what makes scientists credible, and...

During the past decade, cotton prices remained considerably below other agricultural prices (although they recovered toward the end of 2010). Yet, between 2000-04 and 2005-09 world cotton production increased 13 percent. This paper conjectures that biotechnology-induced productivity improvements...

One of the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations is to reduce the global level of “extreme poverty” (the roughly 1.5 billion people whose income is less than $1 a day) by half by 2015. How can such a goal be reached? This paper argues that since the vast majority of the...

About 70 years ago early microbial genetic research revealed that inherited phenotypic traits become determined by DNA filaments composed of 4 different nucleotides that are linearly arranged. In the meantime we know that genes, the determinants of specific life functions, are genomic segments...

This article is about the need for more and more nutritious food, the potential genetic engineering technology has to contribute to a solution, the fact that this potential is blocked by regulation, which to my understanding is totally unjustified.

"As development donors invest hundreds of millions of dollars into improved crops designed to alleviate poverty and hunger, Africa has emerged as the final frontier in the global debate over agricultural biotechnology. The first data-driven assessment of the ecological, social, and political...

Do transgenic crops cause agrobiodiversity erosion? We hypothesize that they increase productivity and reduce production risk and may therefore reduce farmer demand for on-farm varietal diversity, especially when only a few transgenic varieties are available. We also hypothesize that varietal...