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Public Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnology Field Tests: Economic Implications of Alternative Approaches
Author(s) -
Larson Bruce A.,
Knudson Mary K.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1242435
Subject(s) - damages , ex ante , agricultural biotechnology , agriculture , public economics , field (mathematics) , economics , business , process (computing) , microbiology and biotechnology , political science , biology , law , ecology , computer science , mathematics , pure mathematics , macroeconomics , operating system
Federal oversight of agricultural biotechnology field testing is based on public concerns that unknown consequences could arise from such tests, and that firms may not adequately consider the public consequences of their research and development activities. In this paper, four general types of ex ante and ex post approaches to manage public risks from field testing are explored. The analysis shows that the approaches are least effective at facilitating the research process yet controlling public risks when the research firm is small in size and potential damages exceed the value of the firm.