Economic models and organizational forms of animal genetic improvement.

Summary Animal genetic improvement takes very diverse forms. This diversity is observed between species, between countries and over time. Between species, the general biological characteristics of the species are different and play a structuring role. For example, the way in which selection is organized differs according to whether the animal takes several months or several years to reach reproductive age, or whether the offspring of an animal are counted in units, tens or hundreds. Depending on the species and the country, different forms of organization can be observed, some giving more weight to the market to define the incentives for research, others favoring cooperative or collective structures. Over time, these forms of organization may evolve, particularly as a result of technical progress: for example, the organization of breeding may be completely redefined by implementing artificial insemination or genomic selection. The objective of this chapter is to present the diversity of economic models of animal genetic improvement and to explain the economic logic underlying these organizations. As much as possible, we rely on existing social science literature. Our analysis focuses on three animal species: cattle, pigs and chickens. The forms of organization of genetic improvement for these three animal species differ, thus highlighting contrasting economic logics. Nevertheless, these three examples do not exhaust the diversity of organizational forms of animal genetic improvement. The first part of this chapter is devoted to a presentation of the organization and historical economic logic for each of the three species we have considered in this chapter. The second part focuses on recent developments induced by regulatory changes and technological developments.