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AgBioForum, 12(1): 34-46. ©2009 AgBioForum. The Political Economy of Agricultural Biotechnology Policies Gregory D. Graff This article develops a political-economy framework to analyze Colorado State University the formation of agricultural biotechnology policies. Going beyond accounts that largely attribute differences between US Gal Hochman and David Zilberman and European regulatory environments to consumer attitudes, we consider the impact of what amounts to a Schmpeterian pro- University of California, Berkeley cess of “creative destruction” across the entire range of relevant economic sectors and interests. The analysis suggests that in Europe and in some developing countries a “strange bedfel- lows” constellation of concentrated economic interests (includ- ing incumbent agrochemical manufacturers, certain farm groups, and environmental protest activists) act in rational self- interest to negatively characterize GM technology in the pub