Economic governance of property rights: comparative analysis on the collection of royalties in genetically modified soybean seeds

• Main Authors: Guilherme Fowler de Avila Monteiro, Decio Zylbersztajn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural 2013-03-01
• Series: Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural
• Subjects: semente transgênica; cobrança de royalty; direitos de propriedade; mecanismo de governança
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-20032013000100002&lng=en&tlng=en

This paper examines the governance of property rights on genetically modified (GM) soybean seeds. Specifically, the article undertakes a comparative analysis on the collection of royalties in GM soybean seeds in the U.S. and Brazil. For each country, the authors describe the regulatory framework governing the protection of biotechnology innovations in agriculture and investigate the mechanisms of royalty collection in GM soybean seeds. The paper also offers econometric evidence linking the capture of value on biotech innovations and the protection mechanisms deployed by biotech firms. The results suggest that, subject to the institutional environment, firms may choose to transact a GM attribute separated from the seed, building specialized governance structures framed around the genetic attribute and not around the seed as a whole.