@article{Laxminarayan:10914,
      recid = {10914},
      author = {Laxminarayan, Ramanan and Simpson, R. David},
      title = {Biological Limits on Agricultural Intensification: An  Example from Resistance Management},
      address = {2000},
      number = {1318-2016-103073},
      series = {Discussion Paper 00-43},
      pages = {20},
      year = {2000},
      abstract = {When the application of pesticides places selective  evolutionary pressure on pest populations, it can be useful  to plant refuge areas-crop areas intended to encourage the  breeding of pests that are susceptible to the pesticide.  Renewed interest in refuge areas has arisen with recent  advances in biotechnology and genetically modified (GM)  crops. In this paper, we use a simple model of the  evolution of pest resistance to characterize the socially  optimal refuge strategy for managing pest resistance. We  demonstrate some interesting analogies with other models of  renewable resource management, such as
those of fisheries.  Among the analogous results are findings that maintaining  what we might call "maximal sustainable susceptibility" is  typically not economically optimal and that the stock of  pesticide effectiveness maintained is a declining function  of the discount rate. The former result is in contrast to  some existing studies based solely on biological  considerations. We also examine the land use consequences  of the enhanced agricultural productivity that results from  the use of GM crops. Arguments are frequently encountered  to the effect that GM crops could reduce the total area  required for agriculture
and thereby increase the quantity  of land conserved for natural habitat. We show that the  situation may not be as simple as standard arguments  portray it. If refuge areas are used to manage resistance,  then more land will be devoted to agriculture than would be  the case were it simply a matter of adopting a technology  that offered the same yield per hectare without requiring  the management of a biological stock such as pest  susceptibility.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/10914},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.10914},
}