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. 2017 May;42(3):460-490.
doi: 10.1177/0162243916661633. Epub 2016 Aug 10.

Rethinking Value in the Bio-economy: Finance, Assetization, and the Management of Value

Kean Birch  1
Affiliations

Rethinking Value in the Bio-economy: Finance, Assetization, and the Management of Value

Kean Birch. Sci Technol Human Values. 2017 May.

Abstract

Current debates in science and technology studies emphasize that the bio-economy-or, the articulation of capitalism and biotechnology-is built on notions of commodity production, commodification, and materiality, emphasizing that it is possible to derive value from body parts, molecular and cellular tissues, biological processes, and so on. What is missing from these perspectives, however, is consideration of the political-economic actors, knowledges, and practices involved in the creation and management of value. As part of a rethinking of value in the bio-economy, this article analyzes three key political-economic processes: financialization, capitalization, and assetization. In doing so, it argues that value is managed as part of a series of valuation practices, it is not inherent in biological materialities.

Keywords: assetization; bio-economy; biotechnology; finance; valuation; value.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Global public biotech industry (US$ million). Source: Lähteenmäki and Lawrence (2005), Lawrence and Lähteenmäki (2008, 2014), Huggett, Hodgson, and Lähteenmäki (2009, 2010, 2011), Huggett and Lähteenmäki (2012), Huggett (2013), and Morrison and Lähteenmäki (2015); reproduced with my permission.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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