ABSTRACT
Inputs to agriculture often have effects external to the particular farmer using them. Some, like fertilizer runoff or habitat creation or destruction, do not affect agricultural productivity. Others, like resistance to pesticides or to genetically engineered crops, do affect that productivity, creating situations akin to common-pool resources. In these types of problems, with unclear property rights or diffuse ownership, individual users do not take into account the effect their impact on the resource stock has on all other users. Two classic examples are overfishing, with more resources spent to catch fewer fish overall, or traffic congestion, with more drivers and longer commute times than optimal. In the case of Noonan's chapter (Chapter 10), the implication is increased pest resistance, with overuse of the biotech product and reduced effectiveness.
