| This research is motivated by the development of plant molecular farming technology, an emerging area of applications of agricultural biotechnology. The study focuses on assessing public preferences for research funding allocations to different research areas of plant molecular farming, including health research applications, industrial areas of research, environmental research, consumer products, and social, economic, and public policy areas of research. This study also focuses on evaluating the influence of demographic and socio-economic characteristics on individual's choice behavior. The data for this study were collected from a representative sample of Canadians through a 2005 Internet-based survey. The sample is generally representative of the Canadian adult population. Respondents were asked to complete a stated choice experiment designed for the topic of the study. The results of conditional logit models indicate that members of the public possess positive attitudes to plant molecular farming technology and most accept that the Canadian government allocates research funding to this technology. Overall there was significant preference for allocating research funding into health and environmental areas of research. Respondents' age, gender, education level, and occupation have stronger influences on their preferences than respondents' income, area of residence, and any association with a health-focused group. Based on the results of the conditional logit estimations, research priorities and optimal funding allocations were indicated. The study gives government and decision makers information on public preferences related to this new area of agriculture biotechnology. |
