ABSTRACT
The development of pest resistance is one of the many concerns about the long-term success of transgenic crops. This chapter discusses resistances as additional irreversible costs related to the release of transgenic crops. These irreversible costs, their uncertainty, and the uncertainty about future direct benefits result in a real option value favoring a delay in the release of transgenic crops. This is a result well known in real option theory but ignored in most of the cost–benefit studies on transgenic crops.
