ABSTRACT
This paper estimates implicit prices of fiber characteristics and evaluates the biotechnological impacts on cotton quality and returns. A structural model is developed to determine cotton price changes associated with fiber quality improvement under alternative conditions of biotechnology advancements. Two biotechnology scenarios, trend growth and rapid advancement, are developed to measure differential economic impacts of fiber quality improvement on cotton prices, market demands, and economic returns. Rapid biotechnology growth show substantially higher prices, stronger demand and higher producers' incomes than those of the trend scenario. The structural modeling approach appears to be a useful tool for biotechnology impact analysis of economic returns from cotton quality improvement.
|