The importance and limits of cost-benefit analysis in the regulation of genetically modified organisms

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) aims at estimating a monetary value for environmental or public health degradation. In a regulatory context, it should be seen as a complementary tool to risk assessment to aid public decision-making. CBA should therefore be particularly relevant in the governance of modern biotechnology. Genetically modified organisms, however, provide a 'textbook case' of the complexity which results from any attempt to conduct CBA in relation to innovation, this being a function of their novelty, the ethical concerns that they raise, the danger of potentially irreversible effects on biodiversity, the absence of scientific unanimity in the risk assessment, their economic importance, and consumer fear. This chapter aims at underlining the importance of CBA in the regulation of GMOs and at highlighting the specific difficulties with which such analysis is confronted. It argues that these difficulties should not be considered as a reason to dispense with economic evaluation.