IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/nzasin/31965.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Trends in Research, Productivity Growth and Competitiveness in Agriculture in New Zealand and Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Mullen, John D.
  • Scobie, Grant M.
  • Crean, Jason

Abstract

Investment in R&D has long been regarded as an important source of productivity growth in New Zealand and Australian agriculture. Perhaps because research lags are long, current investment in R&D is monitored closely. In this paper trends in public investment in R&D and in productivity growth are reviewed. Investment in R&D has been flat in both countries although in recent years investment in New Zealand has increased. Nevertheless research intensity in Australia has been significantly higher than that in New Zealand. Productivity growth is also likely to have been higher. Econometric evidence about the sources of productivity growth is rarely clear. We develop some scenarios about the importance of domestic and foreign R&D and other sources of productivity growth and find that returns to investments in domestic research in both countries are likely to have been in the order of 15-20 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Mullen, John D. & Scobie, Grant M. & Crean, Jason, 2006. "Trends in Research, Productivity Growth and Competitiveness in Agriculture in New Zealand and Australia," 2006 Conference, August 24-25, 2006, Nelson, New Zealand 31965, New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:nzasin:31965
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.31965
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/31965/files/cp06mu01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.31965?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. John D. Mullen & Thomas L. Cox, 1996. "Measuring Productivity Growth In Australian Broadacre Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 40(3), pages 189-210, December.
    2. Grant M. Scobie & John D. Mullen & Julian M. Alston, 1991. "The Returns To Investment In Research On Australian Wool Production," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 35(2), pages 179-195, August.
    3. John D. Mullen & Thomas L. Cox, 1995. "The Returns From Research In Australian Broadacre Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 39(2), pages 105-128, August.
    4. Dean Parham, 2004. "Sources of Australia's Productivity Revival," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(249), pages 239-257, June.
    5. Pardey, Philip G. & Beintema, Nienke M., 2001. "Slow magic: agricultural R&D a century after Mendel," Food policy statements 36, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. John P. Brennan & Inder Pal Singh & Laurie G. Lewin, 1997. "Identifying international rice research spillovers in New South Wales," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 17(1), pages 35-44, October.
    7. Brennan, John P. & Bantilan, M. C. S., 2003. "Price and yield effects of spill-overs in international agricultural research: evidence from ICRISAT and Australia," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 87-97, March.
    8. Julia Hall & Grant M Scobie, 2006. "The Role of R&D in Productivity Growth: The Case of Agriculture in New Zealand: 1927 to 2001," Treasury Working Paper Series 06/01, New Zealand Treasury.
    9. Tim J. Coelli & D. S. Prasada Rao, 2005. "Total factor productivity growth in agriculture: a Malmquist index analysis of 93 countries, 1980–2000," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 32(s1), pages 115-134, January.
    10. Brennan, John P. & Singh, Inder Pal & Lewin, Laurie G., 1997. "Identifying international rice research spillovers in New South Wales," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 35-44, October.
    11. Munisamy Gopinath & Carlos Arnade & Mathew Shane & Terry Roe, 1997. "Agricultural competitiveness: The case of the United States and major EU countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(2), pages 99-109, May.
    12. Mullen, John D. & Cox, Thomas L., 1996. "Measuring Productivity Growth In Australian Broadacre Agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 40(3), pages 1-22, December.
    13. Unknown, 2005. "Trends in Australian Agriculture," Commission Research Papers 31903, Productivity Commission.
    14. Brennan, John P. & Aw-Hassan, Aden & Nordblom, Thomas L., 2003. "Influence of spillovers to Australia on impacts of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(5-6), pages 471-485.
    15. Productivity Commission, 2005. "Trends in Australian Agriculture," Research Papers 0502, Productivity Commission, Government of Australia.
    16. Robert Chambers, 2008. "Stochastic productivity measurement," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 107-120, October.
    17. 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.
    18. Glenn Fox, 1985. "Is the United States Really Underinvesting in Agricultural Research?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 67(4), pages 806-812.
    19. Shane, Mathew & Roe, Terry L. & Gopinath, Munisamy, 1998. "U.S. Agricultural Growth and Productivity: An Economywide Perspective," Agricultural Economic Reports 34047, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    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. Cao, Kay & Forbes, Rod, 2007. "Productivity in the New Zealand Primary and Downstream Sectors," Australasian Agribusiness Review, University of Melbourne, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, vol. 15.
    2. Mullen, John D., 2007. "Productivity growth and the returns from public investment in R&D in Australian broadacre agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 51(4), pages 1-26.
    3. John Mullen, 2007. "Productivity growth and the returns from public investment in R&D in Australian broadacre agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 51(4), pages 359-384, 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. Mullen, John D., 2007. "Productivity growth and the returns from public investment in R&D in Australian broadacre agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 51(4), pages 1-26.
    2. Mullen, John & Keogh, Mick, 2013. "The Future Productivity and Competitiveness Challenge for Australian Agriculture," 2013 Conference (57th), February 5-8, 2013, Sydney, Australia 152170, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    3. Griffith, Garry R. & Parnell, Peter F. & McKiernan, William A., 2005. "The Economic, Environmental and Social Benefits to NSW from Investment in the CRC for Beef Genetics Technologies," Research Reports 42654, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Research Economists.
    4. Thomas COX & John MULLEN & Wensheng HU, 1996. "Nonparametric Measures Of The Impacts Of Public Research Expenditures On Australian Broadacre Agriculture: Preliminary Results," Staff Papers 399, University of Wisconsin Madison, AAE.
    5. Griffith, Garry R., 2009. "Estimating the economic impact of a major beef industry research and development investment," Australasian Agribusiness Review, University of Melbourne, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, vol. 17, pages 1-24.
    6. Mullen, J. D., 2002. "Farm Management In The 21st Century," 2002 Conference (46th), February 13-15, 2002, Canberra, Australia 174072, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    7. Salim, Ruhul A. & Islam, Nazrul, 2010. "Exploring the impact of R&D and climate change on agricultural productivity growth: the case of Western Australia," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(4), pages 1-22.
    8. THOMAS COX & John Mullen & Wensheng Hu, 1996. "Nonparametric Measures of the Impacts of Public Research Expenditures on Australian Broadacre Agriculture: Preliminary Results," Wisconsin-Madison Agricultural and Applied Economics Staff Papers 399, Wisconsin-Madison Agricultural and Applied Economics Department.
    9. Yu Sheng & Tom Jackson & Shiji Zhao & Dandan Zhang, 2017. "Measuring Output, Input and Total Factor Productivity in Australian Agriculture: An Industry-Level Analysis," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63, pages 169-193, February.
    10. Mullen, J.D., 2002. "Farm Management In The 21st Century," Australasian Agribusiness Review, University of Melbourne, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, vol. 10, pages 1-18, September.
    11. 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.
    12. Katherine Wynn & Mingji Liu & Jasmine Cohen, 2022. "Quantifying the economy‐wide returns to innovation for Australia," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 591-614, September.
    13. Kym Anderson & Peter Lloyd & Donald Maclaren, 2007. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Australia Since World War II," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 83(263), pages 461-482, December.
    14. Garcia-Alvarez-Coque, J.-M. & Gharsi, O. & Martinez-Gomez, V. & Roig-Tierno, N., 2018. "Determinant Factors of High Performing Agricultural Regions," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277456, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. repec:oup:apecpp:v:40:y:2018:i:3:p:421-444. is not listed on IDEAS
    16. X. Zhao & J.D. Mullen & G.R. Griffith & R.R. Piggott & W.E. Griffiths, 2002. "The Economic Incidence of R&D and Promotion Investments in the Australian Beef Industry," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 16/02, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.
    17. Huynh, Cong Minh, 2022. "How does research and development affect the nexus of climate change and agricultural productivity in Asian and Pacific countries?," MPRA Paper 112628, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Zhao, Xueyan & Mullen, John D. & Griffith, Garry R. & Griffiths, William E. & Piggott, Roley R., 2000. "An Equilibrium Displacement Model of the Australian Beef Industry," Research Reports 28007, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries Research Economists.
    19. 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.
    20. Alston, Julian M., 2002. "Spillovers," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 46(3), pages 1-32.
    21. Kingwell, Ross S., 2006. "Climate change in Australia: agricultural impacts and adaptation," Australasian Agribusiness Review, University of Melbourne, Department of Agriculture and Food Systems, vol. 14.

    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:nzasin:31965. 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/nzareea.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.