IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iffpr6/47828.html

Measuring the benefits of social science research

Author

Listed:
  • Smith, Vincent H.

Abstract

This paper addresses two questions. The first is “What are the benefits of social science research?”; the second is “How should they be measured?” The response to the first is that, as with research in the physical sciences, the benefits should be identified in terms of changes in economic surplus for different groups. It may be useful to use a framework that considers the incidence of the effects of social science research on firms, households, and government agencies. The response to the second question is that estimating returns to social science research using conventional econometric techniques may be particularly difficult. Instead, it may be necessary to resort to a case study approach, but care must be taken to ensure that the cases selected for study are genuinely representative.

Suggested Citation

  • Smith, Vincent H., 1998. "Measuring the benefits of social science research," Impact Assessment Discussion Papers 47828, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iffpr6:47828
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.47828
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/47828/files/iadp02.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.47828?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bardsley, Peter, 1994. "The Collapse of the Australian Wool Reserve Price Scheme," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(426), pages 1087-1105, September.
    2. Bruce Gardner, 1983. "Fact and Fiction in the Public Data Budget Crunch," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(5), pages 882-888.
    3. Julian M. Alston & Brian H. Hurd, 1990. "Some Neglected Social Costs of Government Spending in Farm Programs," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(1), pages 149-156.
    4. Philip G. Pardey & Barbara Craig, 1989. "Causal Relationships between Public Sector Agricultural Research Expenditures and Output," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 71(1), pages 9-19.
    5. Richard E. Just, 1983. "The Impact of Less Data on the Agricultural Economy and Society," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(5), pages 872-881.
    6. Jean-Paul Chavas & Thomas L. Cox, 1992. "A Nonparametric Analysis of the Influence of Research on Agricultural Productivity," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 74(3), pages 583-591.
    7. Will J. Martin & Julian M. Alston, 1994. "A Dual Approach to Evaluating Research Benefits in the Presence of Trade Distortions," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(1), pages 26-35.
    8. Norton, George W. & Schuh, G. Edward, 1981. "Evaluating Returns to Social Science Research: Issues and Possible Methods," Evaluation of Agricultural Research, Proceedings of a Workshop, Minneapolis, MN, May 12-13, 1980, Miscellaneous Publication 8 49076, University of Minnesota, Agricultural Experiment Station.
    9. Robert D. Innes & Gordon C. Rausser, 1989. "Incomplete Markets and Government Agriculture Policy," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 71(4), pages 915-931.
    10. 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.
    11. Phil L. Colling & Scott H. Irwin, 1990. "The Reaction of Live Hog Futures Prices to USDA Hogs and Pigs Reports," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 72(1), pages 84-94.
    12. Colin A. Carter & Carl A. Galopin, 1993. "Informational Content of Government Hogs and Pigs Reports," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(3), pages 711-718.
    13. Aaron, Henry J, 1989. "Politics and the Professors Revisited," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 1-15, May.
    14. Gary S. Becker, 1983. "A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for Political Influence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(3), pages 371-400.
    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. Babu, Suresh Chandra, 2000. "Impact Of Ifpri'S Policy Research On Resource Allocation And Food Security In Bangladesh," Impact Assessment Discussion Papers 16578, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Ryan, James G., 1999. "Assessing the impact of rice policy changes in Viet Nam and the contribution of policy research," Impact Assessment Discussion Papers 48287, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Kerr, John M. & Kolavalli, Shashidhara, 1999. "Impact of Agricultural Research on Poverty Alleviation: Conceptual Framework With Illustrations From the Literature," EPTD Discussion Papers 42826, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    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. Smith, Vincent H., 1998. "Measuring the benefits of social science research," Impact assessments 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. David S. Bullock & Klaus Salhofer & Jukka Kola, 1999. "The Normative Analysis of Agricultural Policy: A General Framework and Review," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 512-535, September.
    3. Garcia, Philip & Irwin, Scott H. & Leuthold, Raymond M. & Yang, Li, 1997. "The value of public information in commodity futures markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 559-570, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Adjemian, Michael K. & Johansson, Robert & McKenzie, Andrew & Thomsen, Michael, 2016. "The Value of Government Information in an Era of Declining Budgets," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235811, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Mullen, John D. & Cox, Thomas L., 1995. "The Returns From Research In Australian Broadacre Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 39(2), pages 1-24, August.
    7. Cox, Thomas L. & Mullen, John D. & Hu, Wensheng, 1996. "Nonparametric Measures Of The Impacts Of Public Research Expenditures On Australian Broadacre Agriculture: Preliminary Results," Staff Papers 12656, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    8. Mulkey, David, 1984. "Data Use by Agricultural Economists: Opportunities for Automated Data Retrieval," 1984 Annual Meeting, August 5-8, Ithaca, New York 278716, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    9. Pardey, Philip G. & Alston, Julian M. & Ruttan, Vernon W., 2010. "The Economics of Innovation and Technical Change in Agriculture," 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 939-984, Elsevier.
    10. Klomp, Jeroen, 2020. "The impact of Russian sanctions on the return of agricultural commodity futures in the EU," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    11. Shumway, C. Richard & Liu, Yucan, 2006. "Induced Innovation in the Agricultural Sector: Evidence From a State Panel," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21089, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    12. Alejandro Plastina & Lilyan Fulginiti, 2012. "Rates of return to public agricultural research in 48 US states," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 95-113, April.
    13. D. MacLaren, 1991. "Agricultural Trade Policy Analysis And International Trade Theory: A Review Of Recent Developments," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 250-297, September.
    14. Ying, Jiahui & Shonkwiler, J. Scott, "undated". "A Temporal Impact Assessment Method for the Informational Content of USDA Reports in Corn and Soybean Futures Markets," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258201, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Fertő, Imre, 1998. "Az agrárpolitika politikai gazdaságtana I. A kormányzati politikák modellezése a mezőgazdaságban [The political economy of agrarian politics. Part I. Modeling of governmental policies in agriculture. Modeling of governmental policies in agricultur," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 223-246.
    16. D.S. Bullock & K. Salhofer, 1998. "Measuring the social costs of suboptimal combinations of policy instruments: A general framework and an example," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 18(3), pages 249-259, May.
    17. Taylor, Christopher W., 2012. "Market Reactions to USDA Reports: State Analysis of Corn Price Response," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124661, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. 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.
    19. Lusk, Jayson L., "undated". "From Farm Income to Food Consumption: Valuing USDA Data Products," C-FARE Reports 266593, Council on Food, Agricultural, and Resource Economics (C-FARE).
    20. Diersen, Matthew A., 2001. "South Dakota's Hog Market: Developments and Prospects," Economics Staff Papers 32021, South Dakota State University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ags:iffpr6:47828. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.html .

    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.