Viktoriya Galushko

Associate Professor
PhD (University of Saskatchewan)

Office: CL 244
E-mail: viktoriya.galushko@uregina.ca
Phone: 306-585-4191

Current classes
Winter 2024 - ECON 224 (Empirical Economics)

Research interests

  • Intellectual Property Rights in Agriculture
  • Economics of Innovation
  • Returns to Agricultural R&D
  • International Trade Policy
  • Agricultural Trade Policy
  • Consumer behaviour

have been a member of the Department of Economics at the University of Regina since 2008. I earned my PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Saskatchewan in 2008 and hold a Master’s degrees in Economics (Kyiv-Mohyla University, EERC program, Ukraine; 2003) and Agricultural Economics (National Agricultural University, Ukraine; 2002). My course of study was always motivated by the importance of agricultural and food markets for people’s livelihoods and economies in general. Agricultural policies, controversies and politics behind those always ignited my interest and there was always a perceived need to better understand them to improve the state of society through better policy. I absolutely love my job because it provides that stimulating environment for policy analysis that equips me with the tools required to make the world a “better place” as well as provides an opportunity to share these tools with young, thirsty for knowledge, minds.

My teaching interests include all levels of Microeconomics, International Trade, and courses with quantitative skills component such as Empirical Economics, Mathematical Economics, and Econometrics. My research focuses primarily on agricultural policy and I am particularly interested in how plant intellectual property (IP) policy is connected with plant R&D, the structure and performance of the seed sector, trade in seeds, and farmers’ welfare.

Current Research

Spotlight on research #1: After years of discussions about the need to update Plant Breeders’ Rights Act (1990), Canada finally passed the Agricultural Growth Act (Bill C-18) in 2015. It has been years since the passage of the Bill and yet no changes to the existing Plant Breeders’ Rights Act have been made. Providing only a weak protection to new plant varieties, the existing system has dis-incentivized private investment in R&D in certain crops. Cereal breeding sector where genetic modification and hybridization are not an option, is the one that suffered the most from weak IP protection. Joint work with my colleagues at the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan investigates and assesses alternative seed royalty collection mechanisms in the grain sector so as to generate increased crop research funding, thus establishing a strong plant breeding industry in Canada for the benefit of producers.

Spotlight on research #2: One interesting research question that I am currently exploring is the implications of COVID-19 for grocery purchasing habits. The global pandemic has caused drastic changes in the structure of people's daily routines including how they purchase food. Prior to COVID-19, as long as food purchases were concerned, shopping for groceries was probably the only area where physical shopping experience (in-store shopping) remained the backbone of consumer purchases. COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to proliferation of on-line food purchases and with a significant increase in e-commerce a number of questions arose: Was the change in on-line grocery shopping only temporary or will on-line food purchases persist into the future? If the change in the way consumers buy food has a permanent component to it, what implications does it have for the management of the retail food industry? What implications does a shift to a greater reliance on on-line food purchases have for consumers’ health? These research questions are within the scope of my current research program.

Refereed Publications:

Galushko, V., Cule, M. and R. Gray. 2020. Western Canadian producer’s attitudes towards wheat breeding funding. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 68(4): 461-487

Gray, R., Kingwell, R.S., Galushko, V., Bolek, K. 2017. Intellectual Property Rights and the Canadian Wheat Breeding for the 21st Century. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 65 (2017): 667 – 691.

Flister, L., Galushko, V. 2016. The impact of wheat market liberalization on the seed industry’s innovative capacity: an assessment of Brazil’s experience. Agricultural and Food Economics 4: 11

Galushko, V., Sagynbekov, K. 2014. Commercialization of University Research in Canada: What Can We Do Better? International Journal of Business Administration, Vol. 5, No. 5 (September 2014)

Galushko, V. Gray, R. 2014. The Privatization of Wheat Breeding in the UK: a 25 Year Retrospective Assessment, Science and Public Policy (Oxford Journals) 41(6): 765-779

Galushko, V. 2012. Do Stronger Intellectual property Rights Promote Seed Exchange: Evidence from U.S. Seed Exports? Agricultural Economics 43, Issue Supplement s1: 59-71

Galushko, V., Ryan, C. 2012. Intellectual Property and Freedom to Operate in the Flax Breeding World: Canada in the Global Context. International Journal of Technology and Globalization 6(3): 171-187.

Galushko, V., Gray, R., and Oikonomou, E. 2012. Operating in an Intellectual Property World: Knowledge Sharing among Plant Breeders in Canada. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics 6 (3): 295-316

Galushko, V., Gray, R., and Smyth, S. 2010. Resolving FTO barriers in GM canola. AgBioForum 13(4): 360 – 369. Available at http://www.agbioforum.org/v13n4/v13n4a08-smyth.htm.