Property rights issues involving plant genetic resources: implications of owner-ship for economic efficiency

Citation
T. Swanson et T. Goschl, Property rights issues involving plant genetic resources: implications of owner-ship for economic efficiency, ECOL ECON, 32(1), 2000, pp. 75-92
Citations number
32
Categorie Soggetti
Environment/Ecology,Economics
Journal title
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
ISSN journal
09218009 → ACNP
Volume
32
Issue
1
Year of publication
2000
Pages
75 - 92
Database
ISI
SICI code
0921-8009(200001)32:1<75:PRIIPG>2.0.ZU;2-C
Abstract
The economic theory of property rights is applied to the issue of the conse rvation of plant genetic diversity, an issue often discussed in terms of be nefit sharing, in order to demonstrate that the assignment of property righ ts is important for reasons of efficiency as well as for equity. Given the existence of transaction costs within an industry, the location of a proper ty rights assignment is a crucial factor determining the incentives for eff icient levels of investment at various levels of that industry. In the cont ext of plant genetic resources, this means that property rights that are lo cated at the retail end of the pharmaceutical and plant breeding industries may not have sufficient effect to generate the incentives to supply adequa te amounts of plant genetic resources to the research and development secto rs at the base of these industries. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All righ ts reserved.