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      • HARVEST
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      Comparing the Adoption of Genetically Modified Canola in Canada and Australia: The Environmental and Economic Opportunity Costs of Delay

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      BIDEN-THESIS-2016.pdf (7.323Mb)
      Date
      2016-09-22
      Author
      Biden, Scott 1984-
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Masters
      Metadata
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      Abstract
      This thesis evaluates the opportunity costs of incorporating a socio-economic consideration (SEC) into national regulation on genetically modified (GM) crops. Australia approved the cultivation of GM canola through a science-based risk assessment in 2003, but allowed state moratoria to be instituted on an SEC-based on potential trade impacts over the period 2004 to 2008 and 2010 in the main canola growing states. This analysis constructs a counterfactual assessment, using the Canadian experience to create an S-curve of adoption, to measure the opportunity costs of the SEC-based moratoria through environmental and economic impacts between 2004 and 2014. The impacts will be assessed through a per hectare analysis of canola, by variety, and subsequently aggregated into GM and non-GM variables in New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia, and Australia as a whole. These variables, and their respective number of canola hectares are used to create a cumulative impact of the delay from the SEC-based moratoria through comparison of the scenario under the S-curve and the one reflecting the actuality. The environmental impacts will be assessed through the amount of active ingredients applied during pest management, the Environmental Impact Quotient, and greenhouse gas emissions as a by-product of fuel use from the change in machinery passes from cultivation and spray applications. The economic impacts will be measured through the variable costs of the weed control programs, yield, and producer margins, comparing impacts between gross margins, comparative margins, and a calculated contribution margin. The objective of this work is to gain insight into the opportunity cost and impact of incorporating SECs into GM crop regulation.
      Degree
      Master of Science (M.Sc.)
      Department
      Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics
      Program
      Agricultural Economics
      Supervisor
      Smyth, Stuart J
      Committee
      Kerr, William A; Phillips, Peter W.B.; Tranberg, Janice; Nolan, James F
      Copyright Date
      September 2016
      URI
      http://hdl.handle.net/10388/7467
      Subject
      GMO
      GM Policy
      Biotechnology
      Opportunity Costs
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      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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