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Abstract
Since 2006, several varieties of transgenic
Bt-maize are approved for commercial cultivation in
Germany. The German regulatory framework for
growing these crops comprises ex-ante regulations as
well as ex-post liability rules to protect conventional and
organic farming from possible negative side effects of
transgenic plants and to ensure co-existence. Public
regulation is also suspected to impose additional costs to
those farmers who intend to plant Bt-maize. We address
the question how Bt-maize growing farmers perceive the
additional costs of regulation and whether coordination
or cooperation takes place in order to diminish these
costs. In 2006, we carried out a case study in the
Oderbruch region (Brandenburg, Germany) comprising
eight Bt-maize growing farmers and six adjacent
neighbours. The predominantly large farms chose intrafarm
coordination to manage the construction of buffer
zones within their own fields and to avoid the planting of
Bt-maize close to their neighbours. Inter-farm
coordination or cooperation with adjacent farmers was
not regarded necessary to achieve co-existence.