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Corporate Concentration and Technological Change in the Global Seed Industry

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  • Sylvie Bonny

    (ECO-PUB - Economie Publique - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroParisTech)

Abstract

In the past three decades, the seed sector has experienced, and is now again experiencing, corporate concentration trends. The fallout of this consolidation is the subject of numerous concerns. However, the seed sector is rather poorly understood. Thus, it is useful to understand it better and to investigate the potential impact on the agri-food chain of the trend toward increased corporate concentration. The first part of this paper presents the main characteristics of the global seed sector, its stakeholders, and its size in the agri-food chain. Next, the corporate consolidation trends of the seed industry over the past two years are examined. The technological evolution of the seed sector is also briefly presented. In the last part of this paper, the fallout of recent mergers and acquisitions in the seed industry are analyzed. Opposing views are expressed on the impact of these mergers and acquisitions in the agri-food chain: while certain stakeholders worry about the risk of food power by the biggest companies, some others expect useful innovations.

Suggested Citation

  • Sylvie Bonny, 2017. "Corporate Concentration and Technological Change in the Global Seed Industry," Post-Print hal-01593207, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01593207
    DOI: 10.3390/su9091632
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01593207
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    2. Seyed H. Hosseini & Richard Gray & Mohammad Torshizi, 2019. "Cross‐licensing agreements in presence of technological improvements," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 67(1), pages 115-130, March.
    3. Marin, Anabel & Stubrin, Lilia & van Zwanenberg, Patrick, 2023. "Technological lock-in in action: Appraisal and policy commitment in Argentina's seed sector," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    4. Richard D. Smart & Amer Ait Sidhoum & Johannes Sauer, 2022. "Decomposition of efficiency in the global seed industry: A nonparametric approach," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2133-2147, September.
    5. Rohe, Sebastian & Oltmer, Marie & Wolter, Hendrik & Gmeiner, Nina & Tschersich , Julia, 2022. "Forever Niche: Why do organic vegetable varieties not diffuse?," Papers in Innovation Studies 2022/8, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    6. Jennifer Clapp & Indra Noyes & Zachary Grant, 2021. "The Food Systems Summit’s Failure to Address Corporate Power," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 64(3), pages 192-198, December.
    7. Stefanie Sievers-Glotzbach & Anja Christinck, 2021. "Introduction to the symposium: seed as a commons—exploring innovative concepts and practices of governing seed and varieties," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 499-507, June.
    8. Karime Chahuán-Jiménez & Rolando Rubilar-Torrealba & Hanns de la Fuente-Mella & Claudio Elórtegui-Gómez, 2023. "Unraveling the Complex Interplay of Sustainability, Investments, and Economic Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    9. Karolina Ratajczak & Hanna Sulewska & Katarzyna Panasiewicz & Agnieszka Faligowska & Grażyna Szymańska, 2023. "Phytostimulator Application after Cold Stress for Better Maize ( Zea mays L.) Plant Recovery," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, February.
    10. Koen Beumer & Dirk Stemerding & Jac. A. A. Swart, 2021. "Innovation and the commons: lessons from the governance of genetic resources in potato breeding," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 525-539, June.
    11. Richard Volpe & Maiah Alman & Xiaowei Cai & Alexander Stevens, 2022. "Retail Mergers and Acquisitions, and Specialty Crop Producers: Evidence from California," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    12. Eunhee Sohn, 2021. "How Local Industry R&D Shapes Academic Research: Evidence from the Agricultural Biotechnology Revolution," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 675-707, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    industrie des semences; secteur semencier mondial; firme semencière; concentration; chaine agro-alimentaire; biotechnologie; OGM; amélioration des plantes; agrochimie; prix des semences; diversité des semences; édition de gènes; agriculteur; économie agricole; controverse; changement technique; évolution technologique; firme multinationale; agriculture; chaîne agro-alimenaire; gmo; seed industry; filière semences; semence; ogm; secteur semencier; concentration agroindustrielle;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics
    • Q0 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General
    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q3 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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