Alejandro Plastina and Konstantinos Giannakas
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

This paper develops a model of heterogeneous producers and consumers to analyze the market and welfare effects of the introduction of GM products in small open developing economies. Analytical results show that while the agronomic benefits associated with the introduction of the first-generation, producer- oriented GM products are certainly important, their presence does not guarantee welfare gains to small developing countries. The introduction of GM products is shown to create winners and losers among the consumers and producers of the small open economies.

Key words: Agricultural biotechnology, developing countries, labeling, genetically modified products, small open economies.