Biodiversity versus transgenic sugar beet: the one euro question

The decision on whether to release transgenic crops in the EU is subject to irreversibility, uncertainty and flexibility. We analyse the case of herbicide-tolerant sugar beet and assess whether the EU’s 1998 de facto moratorium on transgenic crops for sugar beet was correct from a cost–benefit persp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European review of agricultural economics 2004-03, Vol.31 (1), p.1-18
Main Author: Demont, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
benefits
Biodiversity
Biotechnology
costs
Economics
Environment
European Monetary Union
European Union
Genetic engineering
genetically-modified crops
investment
irreversibility
option
pesticide use
policy
Social costs
Sugar beet
Uncertainty
Vegetables
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The decision on whether to release transgenic crops in the EU is subject to irreversibility, uncertainty and flexibility. We analyse the case of herbicide-tolerant sugar beet and assess whether the EU’s 1998 de facto moratorium on transgenic crops for sugar beet was correct from a cost–benefit perspective, using a real option approach. We show that the decision was correct, providing households on average value the possible annual irreversible costs of herbicide-tolerant sugar beet at €1 or more. On the other hand, the total net private reversible benefits forgone if the de facto moratorium is not lifted are around €169 million per year.
ISSN:0165-1587
1464-3618
1464-3618
DOI:10.1093/erae/31.1.1