IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v51y2015icp38-43.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public investment in U.S. agricultural R&D and the economic benefits

Author

Listed:
  • Andersen, Matthew A.

Abstract

A better understanding of the relationship between public investments in agricultural R&D and the productivity enhancing benefits they produce is critical to informing the public funding of agricultural R&D and insuring future increases in agricultural productivity. This paper describes a method of estimating the relationship between research investments, productivity growth, and the resulting economic benefits generated. The data requirements include indexes of multi-factor productivity, investments in R&D, and the value of agricultural output. The real rate of return to public investments in agricultural R&D in the United States is estimated to be 10.5% per annum; however, a reduction in the growth of spending on public agricultural R&D in recent decades raises concerns about productivity growth in coming decades, which is required to insure an adequate supply of food to meet increasing demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Andersen, Matthew A., 2015. "Public investment in U.S. agricultural R&D and the economic benefits," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 38-43.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:51:y:2015:i:c:p:38-43
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.12.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919214002103
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.12.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julian M. Alston & Matthew A. Andersen & Jennifer S. James & Philip G. Pardey, 2011. "The Economic Returns to U.S. Public Agricultural Research," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1257-1277.
    2. Pardey, Philip G. & Alston, Julian M. & Chan-Kang, Connie, 2013. "What Can be Done to Reinvigorate U.S. Agricultural Research?," Briefs 150382, University of Minnesota, International Science and Technology Practice and Policy.
    3. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Productivity, R&D, and Basic Research at the Firm Level in the 1970s," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 82-99, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. James, Jennifer S. & Alston, Julian M. & Pardey, Philip G. & Andersen, Matthew A., 2009. "Structural Changes in U.S. Agricultural Production and Productivity," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 24(4), pages 1-5.
    5. Zvi Griliches, 1996. "The Discovery of the Residual: A Historical Note," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 1324-1330, September.
    6. Philip G. Pardey & Julian M. Alston & Connie Chan-Kang, 2013. "Public agricultural R&D over the past half century: an emerging new world order," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(s1), pages 103-113, November.
    7. Eldon Ball & David Schimmelpfennig & Sun Ling Wang, 2013. "Is U.S. Agricultural Productivity Growth Slowing?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 35(3), pages 435-450.
    8. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Adams, James D, 1990. "Fundamental Stocks of Knowledge and Productivity Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(4), pages 673-702, August.
    10. Bervejillo, Jose E. & Alston, Julian M. & Tumber, Kabir P., 2011. "The Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research in Uruguay," Working Papers 162518, Robert Mondavi Institute Center for Wine Economics.
    11. Sparger, John Adam & Norton, George W. & Heisey, Paul W. & Alwang, Jeffrey, 2013. "Is the share of agricultural maintenance research rising in the United States?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 126-135.
    12. Matthew A. Andersen & Wenxing Song, 2013. "The Economic impact of public agricultural research and development in the United States," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(3), pages 287-295, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lachaud, Michée A. & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E., 2022. "A Bayesian statistical analysis of return to agricultural R&D investment in Latin America: Implications for food security," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Katarzyna Kopczewska, 2016. "Efficiency of Regional Public Investment: An NPV-Based Spatial Econometric Approach," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 413-431, October.
    3. Bannor, Frank & Dikgang, Johane & Kutela Gelo, Dambala, 2021. "Interdependence between research and development, climate variability and agricultural production: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 105697, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Stéphane Lemarié & Valérie Orozco & Jean-Pierre Butault & Antonio Musolesi & Michel Simioni & Bertrand Schmitt, 2020. "Assessing the long-term impact of agricultural research on productivity: evidence from France," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(4), pages 1559-1586.
    5. Nobuya Fukugawa, 2019. "Determinants and impacts of public agricultural research: product-level evidence from agricultural Kohsetsushi in Japan," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(3), pages 1475-1498, September.
    6. Bannor, Frank & Dikgang, Johane & Gelo, Dambala, 2021. "Agricultural total factor productivity growth, technical efficiency, and climate variability in sub-Saharan Africa," EconStor Preprints 231310, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Yury Dranev & Maxim Kotsemir & Boris Syomin, 2018. "Diversity of research publications: relation to agricultural productivity and possible implications for STI policy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 116(3), pages 1565-1587, September.
    8. Pierre Benoit Joly & Laurence Colinet & Ariane Gaunand & Stephane Lemarié & Mireille Matt, 2016. "Agricultural research impact assessment: issues, methods and challenges," Working Papers hal-01431457, HAL.
    9. Jianxu Liu & Changrui Dong & Shutong Liu & Sanzidur Rahman & Songsak Sriboonchitta, 2020. "Sources of Total-Factor Productivity and Efficiency Changes in China’s Agriculture," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-18, July.
    10. Alejandro Nin Pratt & Eduardo Magalhaes, 2018. "Revisiting Rates of Return to Agricultural R&D Investment," Working Papers id:12723, eSocialSciences.
    11. Xiangdong Guo & Pei Lung & Jianli Sui & Ruiping Zhang & Chao Wang, 2021. "Agricultural Support Policies and China’s Cyclical Evolutionary Path of Agricultural Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-28, May.
    12. Hans Grinsted Jensen & Christian Elleby & Ignacio Pérez Domínguez, 2021. "Reducing the European Union's plant protein deficit: Options and impacts," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(10), pages 391-398.
    13. Sansi Yang & C. Richard Shumway, 2020. "Knowledge accumulation in US agriculture: research and learning by doing," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 87-105, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Khan, Farid & Salim, Ruhul, 2015. "The Public R&D and Productivity Growth in Australian Broadacre Agriculture: A Cointegration and Causality Approach," 2015 Conference (59th), February 10-13, 2015, Rotorua, New Zealand 204432, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    2. Andersen, Matthew A., 2019. "Knowledge productivity and the returns to agricultural research: a review," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 63(2), April.
    3. Stéphane Lemarié & Valérie Orozco & Jean-Pierre Butault & Antonio Musolesi & Michel Simioni & Bertrand Schmitt, 2020. "Assessing the long-term impact of agricultural research on productivity: evidence from France," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(4), pages 1559-1586.
    4. Gersbach, Hans & Sorger, Gerhard & Amon, Christian, 2018. "Hierarchical growth: Basic and applied research," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 434-459.
    5. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Mairesse, Jacques & Mohnen, Pierre, 2010. "Measuring the Returns to R&D," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1033-1082, Elsevier.
    6. Chatterjee, Diti & Dinar, Ariel & González-Rivera, Gloria, 2018. "An empirical knowledge production function of agricultural research and extension: The case of the University of California Cooperative Extension," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 290-297.
    7. Bervejillo, Jose E. & Alston, Julian M. & Tumber, Kabir P., 2012. "The benefits from public agricultural research in Uruguay," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(4), pages 1-23, December.
    8. Mason-D'Croz, Daniel & Sulser, Timothy B. & Wiebe, Keith & Rosegrant, Mark W. & Lowder, Sarah K. & Nin-Pratt, Alejandro & Willenbockel, Dirk & Robinson, Sherman & Zhu, Tingju & Cenacchi, Nicola & Duns, 2019. "Agricultural investments and hunger in Africa modeling potential contributions to SDG2 – Zero Hunger," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 38-53.
    9. Sabasi, Darlington & Shumway, C. Richard, 2014. "Technical Change, Efficiency, and Total Factor Productivity in U.S. Agriculture," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170225, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Bannor, Frank & Dikgang, Johane & Kutela Gelo, Dambala, 2021. "Interdependence between research and development, climate variability and agricultural production: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 105697, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Alston, Julian M. & Pardey, Philip G. & Ruttan, Vernon W., 2008. "Research Lags Revisited: Concepts and Evidence from U.S. Agriculture," Staff Papers 50091, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    12. Barge-Gil, Andrés & López, Alberto, 2013. "R&D and productivity: In search of complementarity between research and development activities," MPRA Paper 43808, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Heijs, Joost, 2003. "Freerider behaviour and the public finance of R&D activities in enterprises: the case of the Spanish low interest credits for R&D," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 445-461, March.
    14. Christoph Meister & Bart Verspagen & Guntram B. Wolff, 2006. "European Productivity Gaps: Is R&D the Solution?," Chapters, in: Susanne Mundschenk & Michael H. Stierle & Ulrike Stierle-von Schütz & Iulia Traistaru-Siedschlag (ed.), Competitiveness and Growth in Europe, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Wu, Mingran & Zhao, Min & Wu, Zhaodan, 2019. "Evaluation of development level and economic contribution ratio of science and technology innovation in eastern China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    16. Pedro de Faria & Francisco Lima, 2012. "Interdependence and spillovers: is firm performance affected by others’ innovation activities?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(36), pages 4765-4775, December.
    17. Cassiman, Bruno & Veugelers, Reinhilde & Zuniga, Pluvia, 2009. "Diversity of science linkages and innovation performance: some empirical evidence from Flemish firms," Economics Discussion Papers 2009-30, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Jin, Yu & Huffman, Wallace E., 2013. "Reduced U.S. Funding of Public Agricultural Research and Extension Risks Lowering Future Agricultural Productivity Growth Prospects," Staff General Research Papers Archive 36796, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    19. Antonelli, Cristiano, 2013. "Globalization Localized Technological Change and the Knowledge Economy," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201325, University of Turin.
    20. G Cameron, 1996. "Innovation and Economic Growth," CEP Discussion Papers dp0277, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:51:y:2015:i:c:p:38-43. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.