Lesser, William Henri

Susan Eckert Lynch Professor of Science and Business
William Lesser`s research focuses on the implications of agricultural biotechnology products on production costs and the size, structure, and geographic distribution of farming. He also concentrates on the costs, benefits, and structural implications of intellectual property—particularly patents—for plants, seed, and animals. His analyses include comparisons between the U.S., Europe, and developing countries.

research

research and scholarship focus

My inter-related research focus includes (a) the effects of agbiotechnology on producers and consumers, notably in developing economies, (b) the functioning of intellectual property rights within those systems, and (c) the affects of new IPR systems like Geographic Indications on producers and consumers.

research areas

international geographic focus

domestic geographic focus

affiliations

faculty appointment in

member of graduate field

other Cornell affiliations

service

outreach focus

My extension responsibilities involve primarily the oversight and management of Extension personnel and programs as part of my responsibility as chair.

current professional activities

• Chairman, AAEA Food and Agricultural Marketing Policy Section, 2000-01
• Director, Cornell-in-India Agribusiness Executive Management Program, 2000
• Acting Executive Director, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, 1994-95
• Sabbatical leave, International Academy of the Environment, Geneva, Switzerland, 1993-94
• Director, Cornell Western Societies Program, 1990-93
• Kellogg National Fellowship Program, 1989-91
• Food Distribution Research Society: Vice President/Education, 1982-84; Director, 1985-87

background

educational background

  • Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1978
  • M.S., University of Rhode Island, 1974
  • B.A., University of Washington, 1968

professional background

  • Intellectual property rights for the implementation of the Rio Biodiversity Convention at the International Academy of the Environment in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Acting executive director, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), which is responsible for transferring new agricultural technologies to developing countries
  • Established the Cornell-in-India Agribusiness Executive Management Program, 2000

publications

selected publications (listing in progress)

Lesser, W., and M. A. Mutschler. 2004. Balancing Investment Incentives and Social Benefits when Protecting Plant Varieties: Implementing Initial Variety Systems. Crop Science 44:1113-20.

Lesser, W., and T. Lybbert. 2004. Do Patents Come Too Easy?. IDEA: The Journal of Law and Technology 44(3):381-409.

Lesser, W. 2003. Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture. From a Crop Science Society Conference sponsored by the Farm Foundation, CD-ROM.

Lesser, W. 2002. The Effects of Intellectual Property Rights on Foreign Direct Investments and Imports into Developing Countries in the Post-TRIPs Era. Ithaca, NY, http://www.biodevelopments.org/ip/index.htm.

Lesser, W., T. M. Schmit, and L. M. Ruiz. 2001. Pricing elite germplasm for GMOs by developing countries: A method and application to Brazil. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review.

Lesser, W. 2000. Intellectual property rights under the Convention on Biological Diversity. In Agriculture and intellectual property rights, edited by V. Santiello, R. E. Evenson, D. Zilberman, and G. A. Carlson. London: CABI.

Lesser, W. 2000. An economic approach to identifying an "effective sui generis system" for plant variety protection under TRIPS. Agribusiness 16 (1):96-114.

Lesser, W. 2000. Plant breeders' rights. (For controlled access to the ISAAA web site, contact ip-tt@isaaa.org)

Lesser, W. 2000. Transitions in agbiotech: Economics of strategy and policy. Storrs, CT: Food Marketing Policy Center.

Lesser, W. 1999. Export marketing: An introductory guide. CD-ROM.

Lesser, W., J. Bernard, and K. Billah. 1999. Methodologies for ex ante projections of adoption rates for agbiotech products: Lessons learned from rBST. Agribusiness 15 (2): 149-62.

Lesser, W. 1998. Sustainable use of genetic resources under the convention on biological diversity: Exploring access and benefit sharing issues. London: CABI.

Keywords: applied economics, economics biotechnology, intellectual property rights, plant variety protection, science and business, technology adoption, technology transfer