Innovation / rural finance products and process

Paper

Rates of Return to Public Agricultural Research in the Presence of Research Spillovers

Selected Paper for presentation at the American Agricultural Association Meetings Chicago, Illinois, August 5-8 (2001)

This study uses new data to examine the contributions of public agricultural research, extension and infrastructure to agricultural productivity. The estimated social rates of return (which take into account spillover effects) are high and imply a need for federal or regional institutions to coordinate public agricultural research funding. The purpose of the paper is to measure the spillover effects of the research performed in other geographical areas on a state’s agricultural productivity. Using newly-contructed data on agricultural productivity (TFP), production-oriented public agricultural research expenditures, and other variables at the state level, the authors estimate the contribution of a state’s own public agricultural research and pill-ins from agricultural research in adjacent states to agricultural productivity.

You can also read linked documents for this article.