ABSTRACT
Both “The Interaction of Dynamic Problems and Dynamic Policies: Some Economics of Biotechnology” by Timo Goeschl and Timothy Swanson (Chapter 11) and “Industrial Organization and Institutional Considerations in Agricultural Pest Resistance Management” by Jennifer Alix and David Zilberman (Chapter 12) deal with what one might call “strategic” aspects of pest resistance management. They consider how the actions of firms providing new products and the interactions between firms seeking to develop new products affect the nature of products developed, their use, and the role for public regulation of such products. The two contributions take different expositional approaches, however. Goeschl and Swanson structure their chapter around a mathematical model of new biotechnology product development. Although Alix and Zilberman present some formal modeling in a technical appendix, the main thrust of their exposition is more discursive. They present an extensive discussion of a number of scientific, institutional, and economic factors that affect the use of pesticides and the consequent evolution of pest resistance. In this respect, the chapters are complementary. Goeschl and Swanson delve deeply into the specifics of a specialized, but nonetheless illuminating, model. Alix and Zilberman present a wealth of “on-the-ground” detail.
