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Assessing And Attributing The Benefits From Varietal Improvement Research: Evidence From Embrapa, Brazil

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  • Pardey, Philip G.
  • Alston, Julian M.
  • Chan-Kang, Connie
  • Magalhaes, Eduardo Castelo
  • Vosti, Stephen A.

Abstract

In general, reported rates of return to agricultural R&D are high, but questions have been raised about upward biases in the evidence. Among the reasons for this bias, insufficient attention to attribution aspects-matching of research benefits and costs-is a pervasive problem, the magnitude of which is illustrated here with new evidence for Brazil. Over the period 1981 to 2003, varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and soybeans yielded benefits attributable to research of $14.8 billion in present value (1999 prices) terms; 6.1 percent of the corresponding value of crop output. If all of those benefits were attributed to Embrapa, a public research corporation accounting for more than half Brazil's agricultural R&D spending, the benefit-cost ratio would be 78:1. If a geometric attribution rule based on genetic histories is used in conjunction with quantitative evidence on the extent of research collaborations to account for the innovative effort of others, the ratio drops substantially to 16:1. The sources of these gains vary markedly among crops and over time, making it hard to generalize about the international and institutional origins of varietal innovations in Brazilian agriculture during the past several decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Pardey, Philip G. & Alston, Julian M. & Chan-Kang, Connie & Magalhaes, Eduardo Castelo & Vosti, Stephen A., 2002. "Assessing And Attributing The Benefits From Varietal Improvement Research: Evidence From Embrapa, Brazil," EPTD Discussion Papers 16103, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:eptddp:16103
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.16103
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    2. Pardey, Philip G. & Koo, Bonwoo & Nottenburg, Carol, 2004. "Creating, Protecting, And Using Crop Biotechnologies Worldwide In An Era Of Intellectual Property," Staff Papers 13600, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    3. Renkow, Mitch, 2010. "Impacts of IFPRI's "priorities for pro-poor public investment" global research program," Impact assessments 31, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Pardey, Philip G. & Alston, Julian M. & Chan-Kang, Connie & Magalhaes, Eduardo Castelo & Vosti, Stephen A., 2002. "Assessing And Attributing The Benefits From Varietal Improvement Research: Evidence From Embrapa, Brazil," EPTD Discussion Papers 16103, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Chan-Kang, Connie & Fan, Shenggen & Qian, Keming, 2003. "National and International Agricultural Research and Poverty: Findings in the case of wheat in China," 2003 Annual meeting, July 27-30, Montreal, Canada 22185, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Shenggen Fan & Connie Chan‐Kang & Keming Qian & K. Krishnaiah, 2005. "National and international agricultural research and rural poverty: the case of rice research in India and China," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(s3), pages 369-379, November.
    7. Arega D. Alene & Abebe Menkir & S. O. Ajala & B. Badu‐Apraku & A. S. Olanrewaju & V. M. Manyong & Abdou Ndiaye, 2009. "The economic and poverty impacts of maize research in West and Central Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(5), pages 535-550, September.
    8. Shulin Gu & John O. Adeoti & Ana Célia Castro & Jeffrey Orozco & Rafael Díaz, 2012. "The Agro-food Sector in Catching-up Countries: A Comparative Study of Four Cases," Chapters, in: Franco Malerba & Richard R. Nelson (ed.), Economic Development as a Learning Process, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Philip G. Pardey & Julian M. Alston & Connie Chan-Kang & Eduardo C. Magalhães & Stephen A. Vosti, 2006. "International and Institutional R&D Spillovers: Attribution of Benefits among Sources for Brazil's New Crop Varieties," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(1), pages 104-123.
    10. Alston, Julian M., 2002. "Spillovers," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 46(3), pages 1-32.
    11. Pellegrina, Heitor S., 2022. "Trade, productivity, and the spatial organization of agriculture: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).

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