Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T10:57:00.490Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - Designing the legacy library of genetic resources: approaches, methods and results

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2009

By
Timo Goeschl  and
Timothy Swanson
Edited by
Andreas Kontoleon ,
Unai Pascual  and
Timothy Swanson
Timo Goeschl
Affiliation:
Professor in Environmental Economics, Alfred Weber-Institute of Economics University of Heidelberg, Germany
Timothy Swanson
Affiliation:
Chair in Law and Economics at the Department of Economics and Faculty of Law University College, London
Andreas Kontoleon
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Unai Pascual
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Timothy Swanson
Affiliation:
University College London
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Of the many ways in which biodiversity might be conceptualised, one of the most important is as the diversity of the set of genetic resources (see also Chapters 21 and 23 in this volume). The diversity of the set of genetic resources refers to the amount of information contained within biological systems, commonly assessed at the level of genes. The ‘resource’ aspect arises out of the fact that biologically sourced information is a key input into research and development (R&D) processes that are used to address problems important to society. The life science sector, for instance, uses this information in order to conduct research on problems in both the agricultural and the health sectors.

The idea that biodiversity may contain information on how to find new sources of pharmaceuticals, crops, etc. has been present in the genetic resources valuation literature from its very beginnings (Oldfield 1989). Equally present has been the recognition that the R&D options available in genetic resources are lost as the genetic base is narrowed (Swanson 1995, 1993). There is a long-recognised importance placed by economists on the retention of genetic resources for the performance of useful R&D and the issues surrounding the management of this resource for this function (Brown and Swierzbinski 1988).

The question of how to manage the informational values inherent within genetic resources may be asked in various ways. One particularly instructive analogy is the maintenance of the collection of all previously published written works within a library (Weitzman 1998).

Type
Chapter
Information
Biodiversity Economics
Principles, Methods and Applications
 , pp. 271 - 292
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brock, W. A. and Xepapadeas, A. 2003. Valuing biodiversity from an economic perspective: a unified economic, ecological and genetic approach. American Economic Review. 93 (5). 1597–1614.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, G. and Swierzbinski, J. 1988. Optimal genetic resources in the context of asymmetric public goods. In Smith, V. K. (ed.). Environmental Resources and Applied Welfare Economics. Washington: RFF. 293–312.Google Scholar
Costello, C. and Ward, M. 2004. Search, bioprospecting, and biodiversity conservation: comment. Working Paper. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California.
Evans, L. T. 1993. Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Evenson, R. E. and Kislev, Y. 1976. A stochastic model of applied research. Journal of Political Economy. 84. 265–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evenson, R. E., Gollin, D. and Santaniello, V. (eds.). 1998. Agricultural Values of Genetic Resources. London: CABI.Google Scholar
Farnsworth, N. and Soejarto, D. 1985. Potential consequences of plant extinction in the United States on the current and future availability of prescription drugs. Economic Botany. 39 (2). 231–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goeschl, T. and Swanson, T. 2002. The social value of biodiversity for R&D. Environmental and Resource Economics. 22. 477–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gollin, D. and Evenson, R. E. 1998. Breeding values of rice genetic resources. In Evenson, R. E., Gollin, D., and Santaniello, V. (eds.). Agricultural Values of Plant Genetic Resources. Wallingford: CABI. 179–193.Google Scholar
Gollin, D., Smale, M and Skovmand, B. 2000. Searching an ex situ collection of wheat genetic resources. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 82 (4). 812–827.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassar, I. and Lasserre, P. 2004. Species preservation and biodiversity value: a real options approach. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 48. 857–879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mainwaring, L. 2001. Biodiversity, biocomplexity, and the economics of genetic dissimilarity. Land Economics. 77 (1). 79–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metrick, A. and Weitzman, M. 1998. Conflicts and choices in biodiversity preservation. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 12 (3). 21–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nehring, K. and Puppe, C. 2002. A theory of diversity. Econometrica. 70 (3). 1155–1198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oerke, E- C., Dehne, H- W., Schönbeck, F. and Weber, A. 1994. Crop Production and Crop Protection. Estimated Losses in Major Food and Cash Crops. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Oldfield, M. L. 1989. The Value of Conserving Genetic Resources. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.Google Scholar
Pearce, D. and Puroshothoman, P. 1995. The economic value of plant-based pharmaceuticals. In Swanson, T. (ed.). Intellectual Property Rights and Biodiversity Conservation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polasky, S., Csuti, B., Vossler, C. A. and Meyers, S. M. 2001. A comparison of taxonomic distinctness versus richness as criteria for setting conservation priorities for North American birds. Biological Conservation. 97 (1). 99–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rausser, G. C. and Small, A. A. 2000. Valuing research leads: bioprospecting and the conservation of genetic resources. Journal of Political Economy. 108 (1). 173–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salop, S. 1980. Monopolistic competition with outside goods. Bell Journal of Economics. 10. 141–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheffer, R. 1997. The Nature of Disease in Plants. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Simpson, R. D. and Craft, A. 2001. The value of biodiversity in pharmaceutical research with differentiated products. Environmental and Resource Economics. 18 (1). 1–17.Google Scholar
Simpson, R. D. and Sedjo, R. A. 1998. The value of genetic resources for use in agricultural improvement. In Evenson, R. E., Gollin, D., Santaniello, V. (eds.). Agricultural Values of Plant Genetic Resources. Wallingford: CABI. 55–67.Google Scholar
Simpson, R. D., Sedjo, R. A. and Reid, J. W. 1996. Valuing biodiversity for use in pharmaceutical research. Journal of Political Economy. 104 (1). 163–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solow, A., Polasky, S. and Broadus, J. 1993. On the measurement of biological diversity. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. 24 (1). 60–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanson, T. 1993. The International Regulation of Extinction.London: Macmillan and New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Swanson, T. (ed.). 1995. Intellectual Property Rights and Biodiversity Conservation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanson, T. and Luxmoore, R. 1998. Industrial Reliance on Biodiversity. Cambridge: WCMC.Google Scholar
Weikard, H.-P. 2002. Diversity functions and the value of biodiversity. Land Economics. 78 (1). 20–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weitzman, M. 1992. On diversity. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 107 (2). 363–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weitzman, M. 1993. What to preserve? an application of diversity theory to crane preservation. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 108 (1). 157–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weitzman, M. 1998. The Noah's Ark problem. Econometrica. 66 (6). 1279–1298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zohrabian, A., Traxler, G., Caudill, S. and Smale, M. 2003. Valuing pre-commercial genetic resources: a maximum entropy approach. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 85 (2). 429–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×