Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Decision Making About Biotechnology: The Costs of Learning from Error

  • Chapter
The Social Response to Environmental Risk

Part of the book series: Recent Economic Thought Series ((RETH,volume 24))

Abstract

One of the main obstacles to the use of science and engineering for human betterment is that new technological endeavors quickly develop economic, political, and intellectual momentum. As a result, these technologies then resist improvement, even when serious environmental or social impacts become apparent. The time to make mid-course corrections, therefore, is early in the life cycle before momentum becomes irresistible (Winner, 1977, 1986; Morone and Woodhouse, 1989). Among the most significant new technical endeavors for the foreseeable future are those in the field of molecular genetics —popularly referred to as biotechnology. This chapter attempts to assess whether early commercialization of this technology is proceeding sensibly or whether changes may be desirable. The analysis relies on a framework developed by decision theorists for evaluating the regulation of toxic chemicals, nuclear power, and other environmentally hazardous technologies (Collingridge, 1980, 1983; Morone and Woodhouse, 1986).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Berardi, Gigi and Charles Geisler. 1984. The Social Consequences and Challenges of Agricultural Technologies. Boulder CO: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browne, William P., and Larry G. Hamm. 1988. “Political Choice and Social Values: The Case of bGH,” Policy Studies Journal 17: 181–192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Busch, Lawrence, and William B. Lacy. 1983. Science, Agriculture, and the Politics of Research. Boulder CO: Westview.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buttel, Frederick H. et al. 1985. “From Green Revolution to Biorevolution: Some Observations on the Changing Technological Bases of Economic Transformation in the Third World,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 34(1): 31–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collingridge, David. 1980. The Social Control of Technology. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collingridge, David. 1983. Technology in the Policy Process: The Control of Nuclear Power. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conservation Foundation Letter. 1988.“Biotechnologies Are Tricky to Manage in the Third World.” 6: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daly, Peter. 1985. The Biotechnology Business: A Strategic Analysis. London: Rowman, Allanheld.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drucker, Peter F. 1973. “New Technology: Predicting Its Impact” The New York Times, April 8. Reprinted in Technology and the Future. Albert H. Teich, (ed.), 4th. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiksel, Joseph. 1986. Biotechnology Risk Assessment. New York: Pergamon. Flavell, R.B., et al. 1986. Plants and Agriculture. pp. 199–221 in Silver 1986. Goodman, David, Bernardo Sorj, and John Wilkinson. 1987. From Farming to

    Google Scholar 

  • Biotechnology: A Theory of Agro-Industrial Development. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gore, Sen. Albert, Jr. 1987. “Gene Revolution’s Progress Must Be Aimed Toward Helping Small Individual Farmers,” Genetic Engineering News 7 (May), 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hacking, Andrew J. 1986. Economic Aspects of Biotechnology. London: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanson, Betsy, and Dorothy Nelkin. 1989. “Public Responses to Genetic Engineering,” Society November/December, 1 p. 77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, Ruth E. 1986. “The EPA and Biotechnology Regulation: Coping with Scientific Uncertainty,” The Yale Law Journal 95: 553–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • House Committee on Science and Technology. 1986. Issues in the Federal Regulation of Biotechnology. Washington, D.C.: USGPO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, Thomas Parke. 1983. Networks of Power. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalter, Robert J. 1985. “The New Biotech Agriculture: Unforeseen Economic Consequences, Issues in Science and Technology Fall, 125–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenney, Martin, and Frederick H. Buttel. 1985. “Biotechnology: Prospects and Dilemmas for Third World Development,” Development and Change 16: 70–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klausner, Arthur. 1985. “Food from the Sea,” Bio/Technology, January: 26–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kloppenburg, Jack R. 1988. First the Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology. London: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kloppenburg, Jack, Jr. 1984. “The Social Impacts of Biogenetic Technology in Agriculture: Past and Future.” In Gigi Berardi and Charles Geisler, (eds.), The Social Consequences and Challenges of Agricultural Technologies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krimsky, Sheldon. 1982. Genetic Alchemy: The Social History of the Recombinant DNA Controversy. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemonick, Michael, D. 1987. “Montana State’s Troublesome Elms,” Time Magazine, September 14, p. 67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, Simon A., and Mark A. Harwell. 1985. “Environmental Risks and Genetically Engineered Organisms.” In Sandra Panem, (ed.), Biotechnology: Implications for Public Policy. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindblom, Charles E. 1959. “The Science of `Muddling Through,’” Public Administration Review 19: 79–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindblom, Charles E. 1965. The Intelligence of Democracy. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGarity, Thomas O. 1985. “Regulating Biotechnology,” Issues in Science and Technology 1(3): 40–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morone, Joseph, and Edward J. Woodhouse. 1986. Averting Catastrophe: Strategies for Regulating Risky Technologies. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morone, Joseph, and Edward J. Woodhouse. 1989. The Demise of Nuclear Energy? Lessons for Democratic Control of Technology. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. 1987. Agricultural Biotechnology: Strategies for National Competitiveness. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelkin, Dorothy, and Laurence Tancredi. 1989. Dangerous Diagnostics: The Social Power of Biological Information. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Science and Technology Policy. 1984. “Proposal for a Coordinated Framework for Regulation of Biotechnology,” Federal Register 49 (December 31), pp. 50,856–50,907.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Technology Assessment. 1988a. U.S. Investment in Biotechnology. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Technology Assessment. 1988b. Public Responses to Biotechnology. Washington. D.C.: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Technology Assessment. 1986. Technology, Public Policy, and the Changing Structure of American Agriculture. OTA-F-285, Washington D.C.: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orsenigo, Luigi. 1989. The Emergence of Biotechnology: Institutions and Markets. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pendorff, Stephan. 1985. “Regulating the Environmental Release of Genetically Engineered Organisms: Foundation on Economic Trends v. Heckler,” Florida State University Law Review 12: 891–921.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piller, Charles. 1988. Gene Wars: Military Control Over the New Genetic Technologies. London: Beech Tree Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plein, L. Christopher. 1989. The Emergence of the Pro-Biotechnology Coalition: Issue Development and the Agenda Setting Process. Atlanta, Georgia: American Political Science Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rauch, Jonathan. 1987. “Drug on the Market,” National Journal, April 4, pp. 818–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, F. Dale. 1988. “Rise to the Future: The Forest Service Fisheries Program,” Fisheries (May-June) 13(3): 22–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sagoff, Mark. 1989. On Making Nature Safe for Biotechnology. Unpublished manuscript, University of Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. 1986. Releasing Genetically

    Google Scholar 

  • Engineered Organisms into the Enviroment. Washington, D.C.: USGPO. Silver, S. 1986. Biotechnology: Potentials and Limitations. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, G. G. 1983. “Impact of Biotechnology on the Food and Beverage Sector.” In BIOTECH 83. Northwood UK: On line Publications Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, Max. 1988. The Release of Genetically-Engineered Micro-organisms. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki, David, and Peter Knudtson. 1989. Genetics: The Clash Between the New

    Google Scholar 

  • Genetics and Human Values. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Tangley, Laura. 1986. “Biotechnology on the Farm,” BioScience 36(9): 590–593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenbergh, Michael P. 1986. “The Rutabaga That Ate Pittsburgh: Federal Regulation of Free Release Biotechnology,” Virginia Law Review 72:1529–1568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, S. 1985. “Biogenetic Waste: A Federal and Local Problem,” GeneWATCH, 2(4): 7–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenzel, Lauren. 1986. “Congress Enters Biotech Regulatory Arena,” BioScience, 36(5): 305–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheale, Peter R., and Ruth M. McNally. 1988. Genetic Engineering: Catastrophe or Utopia? New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheat, David. 1986. “Strategies for Commercialization of Biotechnology in the Food Industry.” In S. K. Harlander and T. P. Labuza, (eds). Biotechnology in Food Processing. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiegele, Thomas C., and Kent Layne Oots. 1989. “Biotechnology and Terrorism: Characteristics of Organizations Likely to Employ Biological Weapons.” Presented at the American Political Science Association meeting, Atlanta, August 31, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winner, Langdon. 1977. Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-control as a Theme in Political Thought. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winner, Langdon. 1986. The Whale and the Reactor: The Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodhouse, Edward J. 1988. “Sophisticated Trial-and-Error in Decision Making about Risk.” In Michael E. Kraft and Norman J. Vig, (eds.), Technology and Politics. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Worthington, Richard, and Michael Black. 1986. The Center for Industrial Innovation at RPI: Critical Reflections on New York State’s Economic Recovery. In Morton Schoolman and Alvin Magid, editors. The Reindustrialization of New York. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, Susan. 1986. “Molecular Biology or Molecular Politics? The Production of Scientific Consensus on the Hazards of Recombinant DNA Technology,” Social Studies of Science 16: 593–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoxen, Edward. 1984. The Gene Business: Who Should Control Biotechnology. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilinskas, Raymond A., and Burke K. Zimmerman. 1986. The Gene-Splicing Wars: Reflections on the Recombinant DNA Controversy. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. E. J. Woodhouse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Patrick. W. Hamlett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Daniel W. Bromley Kathleen Segerson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Woodhouse, E.J., Hamlett, P.W. (1992). Decision Making About Biotechnology: The Costs of Learning from Error. In: Bromley, D.W., Segerson, K. (eds) The Social Response to Environmental Risk. Recent Economic Thought Series, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2954-1_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2954-1_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5311-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-2954-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation