Determinants of Firm-Level Lobbying and Government Responsiveness in Agricultural Biotechnology in China

Haiyan Deng, Ruifa Hu, Carl Pray, Yanhong Jin, Zhonghua Li

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Understanding what stimulates agribusiness firms to lobby the government and what makes the government responsive to lobbying are the two issues that have been discussed extensively in the debates concerning determinants of biotechnology policy. This paper examines the factors influencing agribusiness firms' lobbying and government response using econometric modeling on a new data set of 160 leading agribusiness firms in the food, feed, chemical, and seed industries in China. The results show that approximately 10% of agribusiness firms lobbied the government about biotechnology policy and regulations and over half of those that lobbied received a verbal or written acknowledgment from government agencies. Seed and feed companies are more likely to engage in lobbying than chemical companies. Owning GM patents not only has a positive impact on firms' lobbying activities, but firms with these patents are more likely to receive a government response to their lobbying efforts. The experience of selling GM products does not significantly influence lobbying activities or response from the government.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)201-220
Number of pages20
JournalReview of Policy Research
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Public Administration
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Keywords

  • biotechnology
  • developing countries
  • economic development
  • industry studies

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