THE DEVELOPMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR EVALUATION FOR ECONOMIC IMPACTS

Abstract

The present study attempts to realize a critical analysis of the evaluation of economic impacts expected from biotechnology. Its point of departure is the idea that many of the examples used to point out impacts caused by the new biotechnologies may be considered either extreme or special cases, not entering in the economic system as "alternatives" to existing technological packages. To analyze the probable impacts of biotechnologies, one must consider the role of large corporations and the importance that the economic restructuring of these corporations has in the formulation of strategies of scientific and technological development. The text, still in a rather primitive form, attempts to separate basic types of policies of incentive to biotechnological development, with emphasis on those cases in which the innovations acquire an eminently public character, accustomed to broader considerations of sectorial policies. In view of the fragility of the scientific basis of vegetal biotechnology, and of the intermediary character of various technologies put into practice, the text suggests that this in one of the areas in which governmental support is indispensable, including the development of basic knowledge.