Landscape Clubs: Co-existence of GM and organic crops

The possibility of increased production of genetically modified (GM) crops in agriculture accentuates the need to examine the feasibility of GM and non-GM technologies coexisting on a single physical landscape. Using the theory of clubs, this paper examines the possibility of co-existence for GM and organic wheat technologies through the formation of an organic club with an exogenously determined buffer zone. Given the available data on prices, yields, and rotations, it is shown that a club can be created in which GM and organic agricultural production technologies can economically co-exist in the same physical landscape. Specifically, co-existence results in an increase in economic welfare over a situation where only GM technology is used but is not Pareto superior because producers in the buffer zone will incur injury. We show that organic producers in the club can compensate producers in the buffer zone and still be better off. Hence, the compensation principle holds. These findings lend support to the notion that, in economic terms, organic and GM technologies need not be exclusive on the same physical landscape, and that club theory may have practical application in a variety of co-existence scenarios