This study analyzes returns to investments in Niger's research and technology transfer system for millet, sorghum, and cowpea between 1975 and 1991. Sixty-eight percent of the country's public-sector outlays for agricultural research and 58% of its agricultural researchers were devoted to...

Many studies on the adoption of precision technologies have generally used logit models to explain the adoption behavior of individuals. This study investigates factors affecting the intensity of precision agriculture technologies adopted by cotton farmers. Particular attention is given to the...

The welfare effects of GM (genetic modification)-led productivity growth for cassava producers are partly affected by the characteristics of individual cassava producing households. Those household characteristics include the elasticity of production and home consumption of cassava. Some studies...

Replaced with revised version of paper 07/15/08.

A survey carried out among olive tree growers in different districts of southern Spain allows the identification and analysis of factors related with adoption of several technical and institutional innovations. At that respect, a composite numerical index has been performed including all...

We analyze the non-pecuniary aspects of some crop biotechnologies taken from three farm-level surveys. We focus particularly on the phenomen on of part-whole bias, which is the empirical finding that the sum of the stated part-worths (the value of each nonpecuniary characteristic) is greater...

The debate about the "quasi" moratorium on the release of GMOs in the European Union is on going. One of the major arguments that were put forward to delay the release of new traits was the one for more information. In this contribution we compare the situation for Bt-maize from the 1995 and...

This paper develops a model of optimal allocation of GM and non-GM crops under contamination risk. The model is used to compare the producer optimal crop allocation at equilibrium to the social efficient crop allocation. From the socially optimum conditions, the paper identifies production...

Intellectual property protection, globalization, and pressure on public budgets in many industrialized countries have shifted the balance of plant breeding activity from the public to the private sector. Several economic factors influence the relative shares of public versus private sector plant...

Bt maize in Kenya is promising biotechnology innovation for poor households. Econometric prediction from a trait-based model of variety adoption indicates that the choice of host variety has equity and efficiency implications related to heterogeneity in maize growing environments and pest...