Diffusion and adoption of genetically modified cotton: Interaction of agricultural policies and farm households in United States

Beginning with mechanization at the end of the eighteen century, application of chemical fertilizers in the mid nineteenth century, crop genetic improvement (Green Revolution) a century later to the genetic engineering (Gene Revolution) today, the agricultural sector has undergone a series of technological revolutions. Productivity gain brought on by each revolution was amazing. Nonetheless, there had been serious debate over outcome of the Green Revolution and Gene Revolution. Controversy over genetically modified crops ranges from issues of safety, biodiversity, intellectual property to ethics, and more. Today the imperative for policy makers to balance its benefits and risks is stronger than ever.;Thus far different economic studies on agricultural technology adoption have suggested different results. As Lord Robbins stated in An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science, "[e]conomics is the science which studies human behavior as a relationship between given ends and scarce means which have alternative uses" (Robbins 1935), studies that focus on only utility maximization of consumer or profit maximization of producer alone are not adequate for analysis of agricultural technology adoption given the complex combinations of socio-economic, environmental and biophysical conditions. Furthermore, individual behavior is impacted by interaction between technological and institutional factors. Hence, a different analytical framing is required to examine how government can reap benefit and mitigate risk in the diffusion process.;This dissertation has taken a step closer in examining factor interactions in agricultural technology adoption. A three dimensional framework is used for analysis: (1) key actors' roles and practices, (2) technological costs, benefits, risks and opportunities, and (3) policy constraints and drivers. This framework is designed to capture characteristics of individual elements and interactions from an integrated qualitative and quantitative analysis. Given the complexity of these relationships, this study focused primarily on the nexus and interaction between farm structure and agricultural policies in the adoption of genetically modified cotton in the United States. The qualitative phase involved iterative search and analysis of existing literature and used the results to guide model development for subsequent quantitative analysis. The quantitative analysis is based on the 2003 and 2007 cotton dataset from USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Study (ARMS) surveys, data from Federal funding obligations, the University of Richmond's PEW Legislative Tracking database, and the Mississippi State University's Cotton Insect Loss Database.;This dissertation found evidence suggesting government policies designed to drive genetically modified cotton diffusion and adoption in the US vary -- direct farm payment programs have a positive impact on adoption, so did legislation that supports biotechnology, but federal research and education funding showed no impact. In general, impacts are more pronounced among larger farms.;In addition, the case of genetically modified cotton adoption in China based on a series of literature research and field interviews is analyzed as part of this study. In 2007 the United States and China reported planting 62.5 million hectares and 3.8 million hectares of biotechnology crop respectively ranked first and sixth on the list (ISAAA 2008). Since commercialization in 1995, the US Food and Drug Administration has adhered to the Generally Recognized as Safe policy, biotechnology regulation is weak at best. In China the Regulation on Safety Administration of Agricultural GMOs was enacted in 2001, followed by detailed regulations addressing biosafety management, trade and labeling the following year, and eventually evolved into a monolithic biosafety regulatory institution. These two governments have taken different policy approaches towards genetically engineered crops (research and adoption) and produced different outcomes. A comparison of relevant policies and outcomes in the United States and China could certainly enhance our understanding of agricultural technology adoption.