Elizabeth Nolan

Summary

My interest is the effects of Intellectual Property Rights in plant breeding, originally inspired by an interest in trade and development, and particularly the possible effect of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement LDCs.

Research interests

I am interested in research into the effects of plant variety protection on agricultural innovation, plant breeding research, market power in agricultural input markets. Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are generally justified on the basis that they encourage innovation. Their introduction has been accompanied by a decline in public investment in plant breeding, increased market concentration, and an emphasis on commercially successful varieties rather those which will meet world food needs. The concentration of ownership of GM traits adds another dimension. To pursue these interests my research involves using Patent and Plant Variety Protection databases which provide information on ownership of germplasm over time and of GM traits.

I am compiling a database from crop variety trials in the US and Europe and intend to estimate production frontiers over time and determine whether the rate of change in productivity has increased or slowed since the introduction of PVP regimes in the US and Europe, and whether there is a difference in rate of between the two regions, given that European protection is less strong (and slightly less favourable to breeders of new varieties) than that in the US. I am focusing on corn/maize, given that of the four main crops to have adopted PVP and GM (cotton, maize, canola, soybeans) it is the only one which is a staple food in some areas of the world.

Background

Elizabeth Nolan’s career began with the completion of a BScAgr (Hons) at the University of Sydney. She then worked in corporate lending with the Banque Nationale de Paris in Sydney. Liz returned to teaching at the University of Sydney on a casual, then fixed term, and now continuing basis. Liz is currently enrolled in a part time PhD in the Faculty since 2004.

Recent publications

• Nolan, E. and Ahmadi-Esfahani, F.Z. (2007). Predicting performance in undergraduate agricultural economics, The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 51, 1–15
• Nolan, E. and Ahmadi- Esfahani, F. (2004), ‘Teaching and Learning: A Review of the Economic Literature’, Contributed paper presented at the 48th Annual Conference of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, Melbourne, 11-13 February, 2004.
• Nolan, E., Packer, T. and Ahmadi-Esfahani, F. (2004), ‘Agricultural Economics Teaching and Learning: The Case Study of Sydney’, Contributed paper presented at the Economic Education Conference, University of South Australia, Adelaide, 13-16 July, 2004.

Contact

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