IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v66y2008i1p177-183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The economics of biotechnology under ecosystem disruption

Author

Listed:
  • Pemsl, Diemuth E.
  • Gutierrez, Andrew P.
  • Waibel, Hermann

Abstract

Economic analysis of chemical pesticide use has shown that the interactions between plants, pests, damage control technology and state of the ecosystem are important variables to be considered. Hence, a bio-economic model was developed for the assessment of Bt variety and pesticide-based control strategies of the cotton-bollworm in China. The model simulates plant growth, the dynamics of pest populations and of natural enemies. The model predictions are used as major inputs for a stochastic micro-level profit model of alternative control strategies. Results show that: (1) productivity effects of Bt varieties and pesticide use depend on the action of natural control agents, and (2) the profitability of damage control measures increases with the severity of ecosystem disruption. The findings highlight the importance of the choice of the counterfactual scenario in the assessment of the impact of agricultural biotechnology. Also, some doubts are raised whether the high benefits of Bt cotton varieties claimed by previous studies based on cross section comparisons are realistic.

Suggested Citation

  • Pemsl, Diemuth E. & Gutierrez, Andrew P. & Waibel, Hermann, 2008. "The economics of biotechnology under ecosystem disruption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 177-183, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:66:y:2008:i:1:p:177-183
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921-8009(07)00449-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Uri Regev & Andrew P. Gutierrez & Gershon Feder, 1976. "Pests as a Common Property Resource: A Case Study of Alfalfa Weevil Control," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 58(2), pages 186-197.
    2. Regev, Uri & Shalit, Haim & Gutierrez, A. P., 1983. "On the optimal allocation of pesticides with increasing resistance: The case of alfalfa weevil," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 86-100, March.
    3. Pemsl, D. & Waibel, H., 2007. "Assessing the profitability of different crop protection strategies in cotton: Case study results from Shandong Province, China," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 95(1-3), pages 28-36, December.
    4. Harold Hotelling, 1931. "The Economics of Exhaustible Resources," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 137-137.
    5. Erik Lichtenberg & David Zilberman, 1986. "The Econometrics of Damage Control: Why Specification Matters," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(2), pages 261-273.
    6. Cowan, Robin & Gunby, Philip, 1996. "Sprayed to Death: Path Dependence, Lock-In and Pest Control Strategies," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(436), pages 521-542, May.
    7. Huang, Jikun & Hu, Ruifa & Rozelle, Scott & Qiao, Fangbin & Pray, Carl E., 2002. "Transgenic varieties and productivity of smallholder cotton farmers in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 46(3), pages 1-21.
    8. Just, David R. & Wang, Shenghui & Pinstrup-Andersen, Per, 2006. "Tarnishing Silver Bullets: Bt Technology Adoption, Bounded Rationality and the Outbreak of Secondary Pest Infestations in China," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21230, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    9. Fleischer, Gerd, 2000. "Resource Costs of Pesticide Use in Germany - The Case of Atrazine," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 49(11).
    10. Prabhu L. Pingali & Cynthia B. Marquez & Florencia G. Palis, 1994. "Pesticides and Philippine Rice Farmer Health: A Medical and Economic Analysis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(3), pages 587-592.
    11. Matin Qaim & Greg Traxler, 2005. "Roundup Ready soybeans in Argentina: farm level and aggregate welfare effects," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(1), pages 73-86, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Frisvold, George, 2010. "Resistance Management and Sustainable Use of Agricultural Biotechnology," 14th ICABR Conference, June 16-18, 2010, Ravello, Italy 188091, International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR).
    2. Michel Fok & Naiyin Xu, 2010. "Le marché des variétés de coton-Bt : analyse de la situation en Chine dans une perspective internationale," Post-Print halshs-00455263, HAL.
    3. Kouser, Shahzad & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "Impact of Bt cotton on pesticide poisoning in smallholder agriculture: A panel data analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2105-2113, September.
    4. Nuppenau, Ernst-August, 2011. "Linking Crop Rotation and Fertility Management by a Transition Matrix: Spatial and Dynamic Aspects in Programming of Ecosystem Service," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114600, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Ernst-August Nuppenau, 2018. "Soil Fertility Management by Transition Matrices and Crop Rotation: On Spatial and Dynamic Aspects in Programming of Ecosystem Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Theodoros Skevas & Spiro E. Stefanou & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2013. "Do Farmers Internalise Environmental Spillovers of Pesticides in Production?," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 624-640, September.
    7. Shahzad Kouser & David J Spielman & Matin Qaim, 2019. "Transgenic cotton and farmers’ health in Pakistan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-19, October.
    8. E.-A. Nuppenau & T.S Amjath Babu, 2009. "Apples compared to Apples: Attitudes towards cisgenic and transgenic breeds," Journal of Socio-Economics in Agriculture (Until 2015: Yearbook of Socioeconomics in Agriculture), Swiss Society for Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, vol. 2(1), pages 113-142.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qiao, Fangbin, 2015. "Fifteen Years of Bt Cotton in China: The Economic Impact and its Dynamics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 177-185.
    2. Finnoff, David & Shogren, Jason F. & Leung, Brian & Lodge, David, 2005. "The importance of bioeconomic feedback in invasive species management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 367-381, February.
    3. Mitchell, Paul D., 2001. "Additive Versus Proportional Pest Damage Functions: Why Ecology Matters," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20775, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Raney, Terri & Matuschke, Ira, 2010. "Genetically Modified Crops In Developing Countries: Back To The Future," 14th ICABR Conference, June 16-18, 2010, Ravello, Italy 188106, International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR).
    5. Theodoros Skevas & Spiro E. Stefanou & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2013. "Do Farmers Internalise Environmental Spillovers of Pesticides in Production?," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 624-640, September.
    6. Solomon Asfaw & Dagmar Mithöfer & Hermann Waibel, 2009. "EU Food Safety Standards, Pesticide Use and Farm‐level Productivity: The Case of High‐value Crops in Kenya," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 645-667, September.
    7. Waibel, Hermann & Pemsl, Diemuth E. & Gutierrez, Andrew P., 2005. "Institutional Constraints for the Success of Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing Countries: The Case of Bt-Cotton in Shandong Province, China," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Kiel 2005 25, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    8. Grogan, Kelly A. & Chakravarty, Shourish, 2017. "The Feasibility of Area-wide Pest Management under Heterogeneity and Uncertainty: The Case of Citrus Health Management Areas," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259188, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Qiao, Fangbin & Huang, Jikun & Wang, Xiaobing, 2017. "Fifteen Years of Bt Cotton in China: Results from Household Surveys," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 351-359.
    10. Bullock, David S. & D'Arcangelo, Filippo Maria & Desquilbet, Marion, 2018. "A discussion of the market and policy failures associated with the adoption of herbicide-tolerant crops," TSE Working Papers 18-959, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Aug 2019.
    11. Seixas, Renato & Silveira, José Maria, 2014. "More of Less isn’t Less of More: Assessing Environmental Impacts of Genetically Modified Seeds in Brazilian Agriculture," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170226, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Liu, Elaine M. & Huang, JiKun, 2013. "Risk preferences and pesticide use by cotton farmers in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 202-215.
    13. Robert G. Chambers & Giannis Karagiannis & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2009. "Yet Another Look at Pest Damage and Pesticide Productivity," Working Papers 0911, University of Crete, Department of Economics.
    14. Matuschke, I. & Qaim, M., 2006. "Auswirkungen der Grünen Gentechnik in Entwicklungsländern: Ein Überblick," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 41, March.
    15. Cobourn, Kelly M. & Burrack, Hannah J. & Goodhue, Rachael E. & Williams, Jeffrey C. & Zalom, Frank G., 2011. "Implications of simultaneity in a physical damage function," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 278-289, September.
    16. Jikun Huang & Fangbin Qiao & Linxiu Zhang & Scott Rozelle, 2000. "Farm Pesticide, Rice Production, and Human Health," EEPSEA Research Report rr2000051, Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA), revised May 2000.
    17. Silvia Secchi & Terrance M. Hurley & Bruce A. Babcock & Richard L. Hellmich, 2006. "Managing European Corn Borer Resistance to Bt Corn with Dynamic Refuges," Natural Resource Management and Policy, in: Richard E. Just & Julian M. Alston & David Zilberman (ed.), Regulating Agricultural Biotechnology: Economics and Policy, chapter 0, pages 559-577, Springer.
    18. Hu, Ruifa & Pray, Carl & Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott & Fan, Cunhui & Zhang, Caiping, 2009. "Reforming intellectual property rights and the Bt cotton seed industry in China: Who benefits from policy reform?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 793-801, June.
    19. Asfaw, Solomon & Mithofer, Dagmar & Waibel, Hermann, 2008. "EU private agrifood standards in African high-value crops: pesticide use and farm-level productivity," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44145, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Budy P. Resosudarmo, 2001. "Impact of the Integrated Pest Management Program on the Indonesian Economy," Economics and Environment Network Working Papers 0102, Australian National University, Economics and Environment Network.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:66:y:2008:i:1:p:177-183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.