Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Iizuka M. 
Author-Name: Thutupalli A. 
Author-workplace-name: UNU-MERIT
Title: Globalization, the rise of biotechnology and catching up in agricultural innovation: The case of Bt technology in India
Abstract: The agricultural sector has played an important role in the provision of  food, foreign exchange and sustainable energy to many developing  countries. This sector, however, has not been considered as a driving  force of innovation as compared to other productive sectors. However,  recent economics and international business literature suggests that the  agricultural sector 1 has become knowledge intensive with the rise of  biotechnology Bt; and 2 is a sector where firms in developing  countries can play an important role in production and innovation due to  their latent advantage in the context-specific or in-situ knowledge  base. In this paper, we first present a conceptual framework that  characterizes the knowledge required for successful agricultural  innovation against the backdrop of globalization and rise of  biotechnology. We then examine the case of diffusion of Bt cotton  hybrids Bacillus thuringiensis, an insect resistant seed technology in  India to illustrate the dynamics of knowledge creation and catching up  by the local seed firms based on their interactions with global as well  as other local firms. Our analysis reveals that the local firms with  absorptive capacity, that is, the ability to effectively integrate  location-specific in-situ knowledge and generic scientific knowledge  global knowledge can catch up with global frontier technologies to  gain significant domestic market shares.
Keywords: Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products; Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives; Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; Agricultural R&D; Agricultural Technology; Biofuels; Agricultural Extension Services; 
Classification-JEL: O13; O31; O32; Q16; .
Series:  Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2014
Number: 054
File-URL: http://pub.maastrichtuniversity.nl/db4f034c-0ad0-4409-92e2-552cff7a6b94
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 817146
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2014054