INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY-RIGHTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN AGRICULTURE

This paper addresses the potential role and importance of an appropriate system of intellectual property rights in sustaining innovation and technological change in agriculture, a sector where the research and development process is typically cumulative in nature. The design and use of intellectual property rights as an economic incentive is illustrated by reference to Canada's new system of Plant Breeders' Rights, and by reference to recent economic research analyzing alternative designs for such a system.