Is More Less? An Evolutionary Economics Critique of the Economics of Plant Breeds' Rights

The chapter explores the relationship between the standards of intellectual property protection, the nature of technical advance in a sector, and the wider 'selection environment' within which technical change occurs. Taking plant breeders' rights as the focus of attention, the chapter explores the social construction of the standards of protection. Adopting a neo-Schumpeterian epistemology, the chapter conducts an empirical investigation of 'PBRs counts'. Thus, demonstrating the fallacy of mainstream economists who use 'PBRs counts' as unambiguous indicators of innovation. The chapter concludes that the standards of protection act as a nexus between a particular technological trajectory (trivial modifications in plant varieties) and a selection environment (agriculture predicated on uniform plant varieties)