Economics of Resistance
Economics of Resistance April 5-6, 2001
An RFF Conference
Airlie House, Virginia
The problem of resistance is common to all efforts to control biological agents harmful to humans and human enterprise. In the past, bacteria have developed resistance to antimicrobials, malaria parasites to anti-malarials and pests to pesticides. The problem of resistance threatens to undo some of the most remarkable scientific achievements of the past century.
The evolution of resistance is strongly affected by the economic behavior of individuals and institutions, and is encouraged by the absence of economic incentives for individual decision-makers (such as physicians or farmers) to take into account the negative impact of their use of antimicrobials or pesticides on future social wellbeing. Natural resource economics offers a valuable framework for analysis of the optimal use of biological control agents such as antimicrobials, anti-virals and pesticides.
RFF features two back to back workshops on April 5 and April 6, 2001 in Washington, DC to encourage research that will help improve the analytical framework of "resistance economics." The first workshop on April 5, 2001 focuses on antimicrobial resistance; the second workshop on April 6, 2001 examines issues related to pest resistance in agriculture.
Welcome
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Ramanan Laxminarayan, Fellow, Resources for the Future
Workshop Overview and Plan, Day 1
Web Bio
Ray Kopp, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future
Opening Remarks
Web Bio
Economics of Antibiotic Resistance
April 5, 2001
Jim Wilen, University of California, Davis
"Dynamics of antibiotic use: Ecological Versus interventionist strategies"
Gardner Brown, University of Washington
"Optimal antibiotic use when resistance is renewable"
Jim Sanchirico, Fellow, Resources for the Future--Discussant
"Optimal antibiotic use when resistance is renewable"
Sylvia Secchi, Iowa State University
"Optimal antibiotic use with resistance and endogenous technological change"
Martin Weitzman, Havard University
"On the implications of endogenous resistance to medications"
Stephen Salant, University of Michigan--Discussant
"On the implications of endogenous resistance to medications"
Marc Lipsitch, Harvard University
"Measuring and interpreting associations between antibiotic use and penicillin resistance in streptococcus pneumoniae"
David Howard, Emory University
"Antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic choice: The case of ear infection"
Uri Regev, Ben-Gurion University
"Excess antibiotic treatments: Economic motivations and policy implications"
Economics of Pest Resistance in Agriculture
April 6, 2001
Felicia Wu, Carnegie Mellon University
Benoit Morel, Carnegie Mellon University
"Pest resistance and the environmental impact of Bt-Corn: Real and rational option approaches to decision-making"
Justus Wesseler, Wageningen University
"Assessing irreversible costs and benefits of transgenic crops"
Chris Gilligan, University of Oxford
Eric Van Dusen, ERS/USDA--Discussants
"Assessing irreversible costs and benefits of transgenic crops"
Bruce Babcock, Iowa State University
"Pest mobility, market share, and the efficacy of using refuge requirements for resistance management"
Gerd Fleicher, World Bank
"Elements of economic resistance management strategies - some empirical evidence from case studies in Germany"
Participants
Michael Margolis