bEcon – Economics literature about the impacts of genetically engineered crops in developing economies
Compiled by Indira Yerramareddy and Patricia Zambrano
bEcon—a web-based bibliography—is a selective collection of peer-reviewed applied economics literature that assesses the impacts of genetically engineered (GE) crops in developing countries. This collection was initially developed by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as part of the literature review for IFPRI’s 2009 Food Policy Review, “Measuring the Economic Impacts of Transgenic Crops in Developing Agriculture during the First Decade: Approaches, Findings, and Future Directions.” Given the relevance of a literature database on this area, IFPRI has continued to maintain and update bEcon on a regular basis.
bEcon has focused on major research questions addressed in the literature (see Browse by Topic):
- What are the (potential, actual) advantages of genetically engineered crops for farmers?
- What are consumers willing to pay for non-GE products, and how will their preferences affect the market?
- What are the magnitude and distribution of the economic benefits resulting from the adoption of GE crops in a particular industry (sector)?
- What is the international distribution of economic benefits resulting from the adoption and trade of GE crops?
- What are the costs of regulation of GE-crops and the implication in their development and commercialization?
bEcon is one product of a project that seeks to develop and validate a “good practices” methodology for assessing the economic and social impact of genetically-engineered crop varieties in smallholder farming systems. The goal is to provide national researchers with a tool kit to support policy decisions under Article 26 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, Convention on Biological Diversity.