Cotton, Biotechnology, and Economic Development

During the past decade, cotton prices remained considerably below other agricultural prices (although they recovered toward the end of 2010). Yet, between 2000-04 and 2005-09 world cotton production increased 13 percent. This paper conjectures that...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Baffes, John
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	2012
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES AGRICULTURAL CROPS AGRICULTURAL PRICE AGRICULTURAL PRICES AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION ANIMAL FEED BIOSAFETY BIOTECHNOLOGY BY-PRODUCTS CARTEL COCOA COLLATERAL COMMODITY COMMODITY PRICE COMMODITY PRICES CONSUMERS COST REDUCTION COTTON COTTON GROWING COTTON PRICE COTTON PRICES COTTON PRODUCTION COTTON SECTOR COTTON YIELDS COVARIANCE MATRIX CROP CROPS DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING ECONOMIES DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY ECONOMETRICS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC EFFECTS ELASTICITY ELECTRICITY ENERGY PRICE ENERGY PRICES ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS EQUIPMENT EXPENDITURES EXPORTS FAIR FAIR TRADE FAO FARM FARMER FARMERS FARMS FERTILIZERS FIBERS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOOD PRICE GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS GENETIC ENGINEERING GENETIC RESOURCES GLOBAL MARKET GRAIN GRAINS GREEN REVOLUTION GROSS MARGIN INCOME INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE LARGE-SCALE ADOPTION LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MAIZE MARKET FORCES MARKET SHARE MARKETING MATERIAL MODERN AGRICULTURE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS OPEN ACCESS OPPORTUNITY COST OUTPUT PER CAPITA INCOME PESTICIDE POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS POLITICAL ECONOMY POOR FARMERS PRICE INDEX PRICE INDICES PRICE MOVEMENTS PRICE TRENDS PRICE VOLATILITY PRODUCTION COSTS PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS PRODUCTIVITY INCREASES PUBLIC POLICY PURCHASING R&D REGULATORY BODY REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REGULATORY REGIME RENT SEEKING RENT SEEKING BEHAVIOR RESULTS SAVINGS SEED SEED COMPANIES SEED TECHNOLOGY SEED VARIETIES SEEDS SOYBEANS SUBSTITUTE SUGARCANE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TOBACCO TOBACCO PLANTS TRADE NEGOTIATIONS TRANSMISSION USERS VEGETABLE OILS WEB WHEAT WORLD ECONOMY WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO YIELD INCREASE YIELDS
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20111205112253 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3663

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Summary:	During the past decade, cotton prices remained considerably below other agricultural prices (although they recovered toward the end of 2010). Yet, between 2000-04 and 2005-09 world cotton production increased 13 percent. This paper conjectures that biotechnology-induced productivity improvements increased supplies by China and India, which, in addition to keeping cotton prices low, aided these countries to cap-ture market share from (and cause losses to) non-users of biotechnology. By contrast, with a single exception, Africa has not adopted biotechnology and, not coincidentally, its cotton output declined by more than 20 percent between the first and second half of the past decade. The paper concludes that the development implications of biotechnology go beyond cotton and Africa. High energy prices have been an important driver of the recent commodity price boom. Therefore, investment and policy strategy responses to a cost-driven boom should be consistent with cost-saving alternatives. Biotechnology clearly meets this challenge.

Cotton, Biotechnology, and Economic Development

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