000 02447nab a22003497a 4500
001 G96421
003 MX-TxCIM
005 20171220113544.0
008 121211b |||p||p||||||| |z||| |
022 _a1466-4283 (Revista en electrónico)
022 0 _a0003-6846
024 8 _ahttps://doi.org/10.1080/00036840600970161
040 _aMX-TxCIM
041 0 _aEn
043 _aUS
100 1 _aShankar, B.
245 0 0 _aProduction risk, pesticide use and GM crop technology in South Africa
260 _c2008
500 _aPeer-review: Yes - Open Access: Yes|http://science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=MASTER&ISSN=0003-6846
520 _aTechnology involving genetic modification of crops has the potential to make a contribution to rural poverty reduction in many developing countries. Thus far, pesticide-producing Bacillus thuringensis (Bt) varieties of cotton have been the main GM crops under cultivation in developing nations. Several studies have evaluated the farm-level performance of Bt varieties in comparison to conventional ones by estimating production technology, and have mostly found Bt technology to be very successful in raising output and/or reducing pesticide input. However, the production risk properties of this technology have not been studied, although they are likely to be important to risk-averse smallholders. This study investigates the output risk aspects of Bt technology by estimating two 'flexible risk' production function models allowing technology to independently affect the mean and higher moments of output. The first is the popular Just-Pope model and the second is a more general 'damage control' flexible risk model. The models are applied to cross-sectional data on South African smallholders, some of whom used Bt varieties. The results show no evidence that a 'risk-reduction' claim can be made for Bt technology. Indeed, there is some evidence to support the notion that the technology increases output risk, implying that simple (expected) profit computations used in past evaluations may overstate true benefits.
546 _aEnglish
593 _aCarelia Juarez
595 _aRPC
650 1 0 _aBiotechnology
650 1 0 _aSouth Africa
653 0 _aGenetically modified crops
653 0 _aProduction risk
700 1 _aBennett, R.,
_ecoaut.
700 1 _aSteven, M.,
_ecoaut.
773 0 _tApplied Economics
_gv. 40, no. 9, p. 2489-2500
942 _cJA
999 _c29067
_d29067