EUWAB, Economics of Agricultural Biotechnology
In 1995
genetically engineered crops were introduced commercially. Most of this
green biotechnology is
developed and commercialised by a handful of vertically coordinated
“life science” firms. Enforcement of intellectual
property rights for biological innovations has been object of
discussion for a long time. Due to their market power, these firms are
able to extract a part of the total social welfare created. Ex post
welfare studies reveal that farmers and input suppliers are receiving
the largest part of the benefits. However, ex ante impact assessments were limited, certainly
for the European Union. Hence, in May 1999
the Centre for
Agricultural
and Food Economics at the
Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven founded the EUWAB-project (European
Union Welfare effects of Agricultural Biotechnology), assessing the
economic impact of agricultural biotechnology innovations in the EU and
their welfare distribution among Member States, producers, processors,consumers,
input suppliers, governments and the environment.
Ever since the project has been adressing the isue surroundig
green biotechnology in Europe and abroad. The research topic broadend
including coexistence of
different production systems, methodological issues of ex ante
assessments, invasive species,...
News:
News:
- AgBioForum's special edition on herbicide resistant crops contains two papers by the EUWAB-team:
->Dillen, K., M. Demont & E. Tollens.2009. “Corporate Pricing Strategies with Heterogeneous Adopters: The Case of Herbicide Resistant Sugar Beet”, AgBioForum, 12(3&4): 344-345.
->Rodenburg, J., & Demont, M. 2009. "Potential of herbicide-resistant rice technologies for sub-Saharan Africa". AgBioForum, 12(3&4), 313-325. - The European Commission's DG Environment news service picks up the need for flexible coexistence measures and summarizes our paper in the News Alert 178 (December 2009). The article can be downloaded here.
- Koen Dillen just returned from the University of Missouri (USA) and IFPRI, visiting Prof. Kalaitzandonakes, Prof. Klein and others.
- Paper published in the International Sugar Journal 111 (1330): 638-643. Dillen, K., M. Demont & E. Tollens. 2009. “Potential Economic Impact of GM Sugar Beet in the Global Sugar Sector.”
- Both
the articles in Ecological Economics (64(4):683-689) and in the
Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics (59(3):463-486) have been
selected by the Belgian Association of Agricultural Economists (BAAE)
for inclusion in the Commemorative Book highlighting the most valuable
scientific achievements in the association.



On
the proportionality of ex ante
coexistence regulations