Chinese seed firm's lobbying activity on biotechnology

Induced institutional innovation could provide more technological advantages, but it calls for government's support as well as the demand for change from interest groups. It has been proved that some seed firms have profited from bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops. Thus, it is reasonable to believe that Chinese seed firms should have positive profit expectation in biotech crops and the motivation to lobby for biotechnology in order to benefit from preferred policies. This thesis examines (1) Did Chinese seed firms lobby for biotechnology? (2) What are the key factors that affect Chinese seed firms' lobbying activity towards biotechnology?;The analysis was based on a survey data from 50 top Chinese seed firms and following results were generated: (a) firms located in Beijing are more likely to lobby than firms that locate outside of Beijing; (b) State-owned firms are more likely to lobby than private seed firms; (c) seed firms who have GM breeding research and development (R&D) have a higher likelihood of lobbying for biotech than firms without GM breeding R&D. (d) Positive attitude of managers towards the adoption of GM crops is positively related to firm's lobbying activity positively compared to non-positive attitude.;This thesis suggests that if Chinese government wants to generate more supports for biotechnology, the government needs to help seed firms conducting GM R&D and enhance the enforcement of IPR in order to make seed firms be more confident of profiting from GM technology. In addition, if the Chinese government hopes to hear policy-making suggestions from interest groups, government needs to provide more channels for private seed firms to lobby and establish lobbying channels for seed firms located out of Beijing in order to motivate seed firms' lobbying activity.