Monday, December 18th, 2023 | 11:00am | PBB 156-157
Should you need further details about this event, please contact Sara Mulville (smulvill@utk.edu).
David Zilberman, Ph.D. Distinguished professor and holder of the Robinson Chair, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California Berkeley
Title: “The economics of innovation and supply chains.” Publication
Abstract: We analyze the transition from innovative ideas to final marketed products. This transition occurs through two synergetic supply chains for innovation and products. Basic concepts are developed, tested, upscaled, and introduced to commercial use in the innovation supply chain. Then, the products are produced and delivered to the consumer through the product supply chain. We argue that product markets trace their birth to product innovations. These markets tend to start as noncompetitive, which rewards innovators. Credit access and risk determine the reliance on contracting and product diffusion over space and time. The innovation and product supply chains are encouraged and facilitated by public policies, such as support for research and education, intellectual property rights protection, low barriers to trade, science-based regulation, and well-functioning capital markets. We argue for multidisciplinary research incorporating knowledge from economics, business, and engineering to better understand the evolution of innovative companies and supply chains. This understanding will help the development of policies to address challenges of climate change and food security among others.
Biography: David Zilberman holds the Robinson Chair in the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department, University of California at Berkeley. He is the recipient of the 2019 Wolf Prize in Agriculture and was elected a member of the U.S. National Academy of Science 2019. David served as the 2018-(Zilberman continued) 19 President of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA). He’s a Fellow of the AAEA, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, and Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists. David has published in both professional and popular outlets. He has more than 350 refereed articles in journals ranging from Science to ARE-Update and has edited 20 books. In addition, he has served as a Consultant to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the World Bank, and FAO. David’s research analyzes innovation supply chain and policy economics, emphasizing the interactions between agriculture, energy, and the environment. He has researched the economics and political economy of agricultural biotechnology and the potential of the bioeconomy. In addition, he has been working on water policy programs and the economic impacts of the covid pandemic.
Email: zilber11@berkeley.edu