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The public as a limit to technology transfer: the influence of knowledge and beliefs in attitudes towards biotechnology in the UK

Costa-i-Font, Joan ORCID: 0000-0001-7174-7919 and Mossialos, Elias ORCID: 0000-0001-8664-9297 (2006) The public as a limit to technology transfer: the influence of knowledge and beliefs in attitudes towards biotechnology in the UK. Journal of Technology Transfer, 31 (6). pp. 629-645. ISSN 0892-9912

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Identification Number: 10.1007/s10961-006-0019-3

Abstract

Transferring knowledge on new biotechnology applications in the European Union is restricted by limited public support. Explanations for this limited support lead us to examine the influence of knowledge and beliefs in shifting attitudes towards the uncertain consequences of unknown technologies. In addition, this paper looks at the role of perceptions of uncertainty as well as information channels. We denote as ‘‘knowledgeable’’ those attitudes that are held by informed individuals and as ‘‘rational irrational’’ those attitudes purely reflecting political and moral beliefs. The empirical analysis employs data from a UK sample of the 1999 Eurobarometer Survey 52.1. Results suggest that improving knowledge systematically raises individual support for clinical biotech applications such as animal cloning, while attitudes towards market-oriented biotech such as GM food remain systematically unaltered. When controlling for knowledge, significant factors within information channels were gender, perceptions of risk and, in certain applications, religiosity. Findings also support the hypothesis that knowledge driven attitudes arise from those applications where knowledge is shifted by perceived experience and thus perceived information costs are small.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://www.springer.com/business/journal/10961
Additional Information: © 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Divisions: Social Policy
European Institute
LSE Health
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
JEL classification: D - Microeconomics > D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty > D82 - Asymmetric and Private Information
D - Microeconomics > D8 - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty > D84 - Expectations; Speculations
O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O38 - Government Policy
Date Deposited: 23 Nov 2009 15:51
Last Modified: 13 Sep 2024 22:06
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/25893

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