Grantee Research Project Results
Deriving Biodiversity Option Value Within a Model of Biotechnology Research and Development
EPA Grant Number: R824707Title: Deriving Biodiversity Option Value Within a Model of Biotechnology Research and Development
Investigators: Rausser, Gordon C.
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: October 1, 1995 through September 30, 1997
Project Amount: $80,000
RFA: Valuation and Environmental Policy (1995) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice
Description:
The purpose of this project is to derive formulas for computing biodiversity option values within a dynamic model of biotechnological innovation. The approach employs formal economic models and rigorous methods of analysis to clarify the economic effects of introducing new goods, the role of genetic materials as an input to the research and development process, and the imputed option value of the existing stock of genetic resources. The analysis is based on the view that biodiversity conservation - the preservation of genetic materials - and biotechnology research and development - the incorporation of genetic materials into goods providing economic utility - are components of a single problem, that of determining the optimal use of genetic resources for economic benefit. The claim is that, given a general theory for valuing innovations, the value of options on potential innovations can be analyzed using tools well-established in the literature on finance. The product of the research will be an analytic framework, including explicit formulas, that relate biodiversity option value to other economic fundamentals (e.g., interest rates). This framework could then be applied in empirical studies to estimate the option values associated with genetic resources, and could be expanded to analyze the effect of economic incentives facing agents involved with biodiversity conservation and biotechnology innovation.Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 11 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
RFA, Scientific Discipline, Economic, Social, & Behavioral Science Research Program, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Monitoring/Modeling, decision-making, Biology, Social Science, Economics & Decision Making, compensation, ecosystem valuation, policy analysis, social psychology, biodiversity, biodiversity option values, valuation, decision analysis, economic benefits, environmental assets, property values, valuing environmental quality, conservation, cost benefit, economic incentives, environmental values, preference formation, standards of value, environmental policy, community-based, psychological attitudes, public values, social resistance, models, public policy, genetic materialsProgress and Final Reports:
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.