Derek Eaton - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Derek Eaton
This paper analyzes the effects of varying appropriability or strength of IPRs for agricultural s... more This paper analyzes the effects of varying appropriability or strength of IPRs for agricultural seeds. Farmers are modelled as heterogeneous producers, purchasing seed from an innovating monopolist in a vertical product differentiation framework. The effects of IPRs on innovation are endogenized and the welfare of consumers assessed through the price for food. The theoretical analysis reveals some novel aspects of the traditional innovation versus diffusion tradeoff. Less productive producers, and also consumers, are better off with a moderate level of appropriability and lower level of innovation. The model is extended to a two country setting consisting of North and South.
This paper explores international productivity patterns in agriculture. We test whether countries... more This paper explores international productivity patterns in agriculture. We test whether countries higher productivity growth has been experienced by countries that were initially further from the technological frontier. Based on a panel of 84 countries at various levels of development, we find support for convergence among OECD countries but divergence in our sample at large over the period 1960-2010. We then test whether technological catch-up is conditional on absorptive capacities and domestic investments in R&D. While agricultural research intensity has a significant effect on labor productivity growth, the size of this effect decreases the further the country is from the frontier. We calculate a threshold level for the effectiveness of research intensity: increased R&D contributes to catching up to the frontier for those countries with a distance to the frontier less than 22. We also test for additional factors affecting productivity growth, and find that secondary education pl...
document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on... more document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies.
International trade and policies for genetically modified products
Why does technology diffusion work to enhance productivity in some countries but not in others? W... more Why does technology diffusion work to enhance productivity in some countries but not in others? We have examined panel data from 84 countries over fifty years to analyze which factors contribute to how productivity improvements diffuse from the technological frontier to those within it. We find that there is convergence of countries onto the frontier only amongst the very richest countries in our sample (OECD), and that there is little if any sign of convergence by others. This results in larger productivity gaps between the richer countries (at or near the frontier) and the poorer ones, and increasingly so for the very poorest. What can be done to aid diffusion to the problematic countries? We find that, for the very poorest countries, the most basic sorts of investments are required before absorption of technological change can occur. Educational attainment is an especially significant factor in poor countries, but of little significance in middle income states. Then, as basic nee...
Zaaizaad is de fysieke uitdrukking van de uitvinding van een plantenveredelaar. Plantenvarieteite... more Zaaizaad is de fysieke uitdrukking van de uitvinding van een plantenveredelaar. Plantenvarieteiten vormen een bijzonder type van innovatie, en alle analyses van intellectuele eigendomsrechten (IE)-systemen dienen hier rekening mee te houden. Dit proefschrift concentreert zich op IE, maar veredelaars hebben een aantal andere tactieken teneinde zich een deel van de baten van de teelt van nieuwe varieteiten toe te eigenen, en te voorkomen dat deze in het publieke domein terechtkomen.Seed is the physical embodiment of the invention of the plant breeder. Plant varieties thus constitute a special form of innovation, and an assessment of intellectual property right (IPR) systems needs to take this into account. This thesis concentrates on IPRs but breeders do have a number of means by which they can capture part of the benefits from the cultivation of their new variety, rather than these falling into to public domain.
The Science of the total environment, 2017
Securing food for growing populations while minimizing environmental externalities is becoming a ... more Securing food for growing populations while minimizing environmental externalities is becoming a key topic in the current sustainability debate. This is particularly true in the Mediterranean region, which is characterized by scarce natural resources and increasing climate-related impacts. This paper focuses on the pressure Mediterranean people place on the Earth ecosystems because of their food consumption and sourcing patterns and then explores ways in which such pressure can be reduced. To do so, it uses an Ecological-Footprint-Extended Multi-Regional Input-Output (EF-MRIO) approach applied to 15 Mediterranean countries. Results indicate that food consumption is a substantial driver of the region's ecological deficit, whereby demand for renewable resources and ecosystems services outpaces the capacity of its ecosystems to provide them. Portugal, Malta and Greece are found to have the highest per capita food Footprints (1.50, 1.25 and 1.22 global hectares (gha), respectively),...
SUMMARY. Technological developments may require a policy response when the potential effects of s... more SUMMARY. Technological developments may require a policy response when the potential effects of such technology contribute to unwanted or unpredictable changes. The introduction of genetic modification triggered policy makers to design a framework for risk assessment and release pro- cedures that may be linked to conventional variety release systems (Traynor & Komen, this volume). Often, technological change reaches the policy
Biotechnol Dev Monitor, 2001
In March 1998 the US Patent Office granted the US patent 5,723,765 on the "Control o... more In March 1998 the US Patent Office granted the US patent 5,723,765 on the "Control of Plant Gene Expression" to Delta and Pine Land Co. and the US Department of Agriculture. The patent describes a set of interacting genetic elements that allows the controlled expression of ...
This paper analyzes the effects of varying appropriability or strength of IPRs for agricultural s... more This paper analyzes the effects of varying appropriability or strength of IPRs for agricultural seeds. Farmers are modelled as heterogeneous producers, purchasing seed from an innovating monopolist in a vertical product differentiation framework. The effects of IPRs on innovation are endogenized and the welfare of consumers assessed through the price for food. The theoretical analysis reveals some novel aspects of the traditional innovation versus diffusion tradeoff. Less productive producers, and also consumers, are better off with a moderate level of appropriability and lower level of innovation. The model is extended to a two country setting consisting of North and South.
This paper explores international productivity patterns in agriculture. We test whether countries... more This paper explores international productivity patterns in agriculture. We test whether countries higher productivity growth has been experienced by countries that were initially further from the technological frontier. Based on a panel of 84 countries at various levels of development, we find support for convergence among OECD countries but divergence in our sample at large over the period 1960-2010. We then test whether technological catch-up is conditional on absorptive capacities and domestic investments in R&D. While agricultural research intensity has a significant effect on labor productivity growth, the size of this effect decreases the further the country is from the frontier. We calculate a threshold level for the effectiveness of research intensity: increased R&D contributes to catching up to the frontier for those countries with a distance to the frontier less than 22. We also test for additional factors affecting productivity growth, and find that secondary education pl...
document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on... more document for non-commercial purposes by any means, provided that this copyright notice appears on all such copies.
International trade and policies for genetically modified products
Why does technology diffusion work to enhance productivity in some countries but not in others? W... more Why does technology diffusion work to enhance productivity in some countries but not in others? We have examined panel data from 84 countries over fifty years to analyze which factors contribute to how productivity improvements diffuse from the technological frontier to those within it. We find that there is convergence of countries onto the frontier only amongst the very richest countries in our sample (OECD), and that there is little if any sign of convergence by others. This results in larger productivity gaps between the richer countries (at or near the frontier) and the poorer ones, and increasingly so for the very poorest. What can be done to aid diffusion to the problematic countries? We find that, for the very poorest countries, the most basic sorts of investments are required before absorption of technological change can occur. Educational attainment is an especially significant factor in poor countries, but of little significance in middle income states. Then, as basic nee...
Zaaizaad is de fysieke uitdrukking van de uitvinding van een plantenveredelaar. Plantenvarieteite... more Zaaizaad is de fysieke uitdrukking van de uitvinding van een plantenveredelaar. Plantenvarieteiten vormen een bijzonder type van innovatie, en alle analyses van intellectuele eigendomsrechten (IE)-systemen dienen hier rekening mee te houden. Dit proefschrift concentreert zich op IE, maar veredelaars hebben een aantal andere tactieken teneinde zich een deel van de baten van de teelt van nieuwe varieteiten toe te eigenen, en te voorkomen dat deze in het publieke domein terechtkomen.Seed is the physical embodiment of the invention of the plant breeder. Plant varieties thus constitute a special form of innovation, and an assessment of intellectual property right (IPR) systems needs to take this into account. This thesis concentrates on IPRs but breeders do have a number of means by which they can capture part of the benefits from the cultivation of their new variety, rather than these falling into to public domain.
The Science of the total environment, 2017
Securing food for growing populations while minimizing environmental externalities is becoming a ... more Securing food for growing populations while minimizing environmental externalities is becoming a key topic in the current sustainability debate. This is particularly true in the Mediterranean region, which is characterized by scarce natural resources and increasing climate-related impacts. This paper focuses on the pressure Mediterranean people place on the Earth ecosystems because of their food consumption and sourcing patterns and then explores ways in which such pressure can be reduced. To do so, it uses an Ecological-Footprint-Extended Multi-Regional Input-Output (EF-MRIO) approach applied to 15 Mediterranean countries. Results indicate that food consumption is a substantial driver of the region's ecological deficit, whereby demand for renewable resources and ecosystems services outpaces the capacity of its ecosystems to provide them. Portugal, Malta and Greece are found to have the highest per capita food Footprints (1.50, 1.25 and 1.22 global hectares (gha), respectively),...
SUMMARY. Technological developments may require a policy response when the potential effects of s... more SUMMARY. Technological developments may require a policy response when the potential effects of such technology contribute to unwanted or unpredictable changes. The introduction of genetic modification triggered policy makers to design a framework for risk assessment and release pro- cedures that may be linked to conventional variety release systems (Traynor & Komen, this volume). Often, technological change reaches the policy
Biotechnol Dev Monitor, 2001
In March 1998 the US Patent Office granted the US patent 5,723,765 on the "Control o... more In March 1998 the US Patent Office granted the US patent 5,723,765 on the "Control of Plant Gene Expression" to Delta and Pine Land Co. and the US Department of Agriculture. The patent describes a set of interacting genetic elements that allows the controlled expression of ...