Overview of special issue from the 2009 ICABR Conference

Wesseler, Justus and Smyth, Stuart J. and Scatasta, Sara (2010): Overview of special issue from the 2009 ICABR Conference. Published in: AgBioForum , Vol. 2, No. 13 (June 2010): pp. 95-97.

Abstract

Until the recent financial crisis, biology-based industries were some of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy—the biofuels business was booming, agriculture commodity prices were high, agricultural biotechnology firms were making record profits, and the pharmaceutical industry was increasingly based on biologics. A recent European Union report has estimated that the contribution of modern biotechnology to the European Union’s gross value added is just under 2%, about the same size as the contribution of all agriculture or the chemical industry. The financial crisis has had impacts on the bio-economy, and these impacts will continue.

The bio-economy has been ‘emerging’ for some time now and questions about what exactly fits into the bioeconomy, how important it is, and how large it will be in the future are important topics for debate. Within the bioeconomy, some components are emerging, but several major constraints to further growth still exist.

These aspects and a few more were discussed at the 13th International Consortium on Agricultural Biotechnology Research (ICABR) conference on ‘The Emerging Bioeconomy.’1 This special issue includes a selection of 10 articles presented at the conference. The issue further includes a summary of the key findings from the conference as well as the Santaniello Memorial Lecture given by Odin Knudsen, Managing Director of Environmental Markets at J.P. Morgan.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: bioeconomy; technical change
• Subjects: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q0 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights

References

Smyth, Stuart, Jose Falck-Zepeda, Richard Gray, Anwar Nassem, Robert Paarlberg, Peter W.B. Phillips, Carl Pray, Sara Savastano, Pasquale Scandizzo, Sara Scatasta, Justus Wesseler, David Zilberman (2010). Policy recommendations from the 13th ICABR Conference on the Emerging Bioeconomy. AgBioForum, 13(2), 98-103.

Knudsen, Odin K. (2010) NTurning Black Swans Green: The Vittorio Santaniello Memorial Lecture. AgBioForum, 13(2),104-111.

Hochman, Gal, Deepak Rajagopal, David Zilberman (2010): The Effect of Biofuels on Crude Oil Markets. AgBioForum, 13(2),112-118.

Richardson, J.W., J.L. Outlaw, & M. AllisonThe Economics of Microalgae Oil. AgBioForum, 13(2),119-130.

Ninni A. (2010) Policies to Support Biofuels in Europe: The Changing Landscape of Instruments. AgBioForum, 13(2),131-141.

Scandizzo P. L. & S. Savastano (2010) The Adoption and Diffusion of GM Crops in United States: A Real Option Approach. AgBioForum, 13(2),142-157.

Aerni P. (2010) Is Agricultural Biotechnology Part of Sustainable Agriculture? Different Views in Switzerland and New Zealand. AgBioForum, 13(2),158-172.

Stein, A.J. & E. Rodríguez-Cerezo (2010) Low-Level Presence of New GM Crops: An Issue on the Rise for Countries Where They Lack Approval. AgBioForum, 13(2),173-182.

Ryan, C. D. & S.J. Smyth (2010)Facilitating Innovation in Agricultural Biotechnology: An Examination of the Ag-West Biotech Model, 1989-2004. AgBioForum, 13(2),183-193.

Butler, Leslie J., Marianne M. Wolf (2010) Economic Analysis of the Impact of Cloning on Improving Dairy Herd Composition. AgBioForum, 13(2),194-207.