Attribution and other problems in assessing the returns to agricultural R&amp;D

Alston, J

doi:10.1016/s0169-5150(01)00072-x

Cited by 26 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…As pointed out by Alston and Pardey (2001), attribution problems abound in the assessment of agricultural R&D. While it seems clear that many studies of agricultural research benefits have not paid enough attention to attribution problems, the nature and importance of the consequences for biases in estimation and interpretation of the evidence are less clear. In this study we have emphasized the role of three types of attribution challenges in the context of an ex post evaluation of the returns to public varietal improvement research investments undertaken by Embrapa, in Brazil: (1) attribution among institutions that operate independently, taking account of spillovers of technologies both within and among countries, (2) attribution among institutes that collaborate in research, both within and among countries, and (3) attribution within an institution, taking account of the allocation of overhead costs both within centers and between centers and head office.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

International and Institutional R&D Spillovers: Attribution of Benefits among Sources for Brazil's New Crop Varieties

Pardey

Alston

Chan‐Kang

et al. 2006

American J Agri Economics

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Reported rates of return to agricultural R&D are generally high, but they are likely to be biased, particularly because of attribution problems—mismatching research benefits with costs. The importance of attribution biases is illustrated here with new evidence for Brazil. During 1981–2003, varietal improvements in upland rice, edible beans, and soybeans yielded benefits of $14.8 billion in present value (1999 prices) terms. Attributing all of the benefits to Embrapa, a public research corporation accounting for more than half of Brazil's agricultural R&D spending, the benefit-cost ratio would be 78:1. Under alternative attribution rules, the ratio drops to 16:1. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

International and Institutional R&D Spillovers: Attribution of Benefits among Sources for Brazil's New Crop Varieties

Pardey

Alston

Chan‐Kang

et al. 2006

American J Agri Economics

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“…In addition, the available studies have been carried out at the national (aggregate) level, and the effects of extension programs are frequently mixed in with research efforts (Alston et al, 2000;Alston and Pardey, 2001). Kidd et al (2000) claim that it seems premature to consider any of these private extension models as sustainable alternatives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Financial Sustainability of Private Agricultural Extension in El Salvador

Solís

Bravo‐Ureta²

2005

Journal of Sustainable Agriculture

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Since the beginning of the 1980s, El Salvador has shown a dramatic decline in the public funding for agricultural extension. This process follows a worldwide tendency to reduce the public sector involvement in agriculture. To respond to the reduction in public expenditure in extension programs, a privatization process has been proposed as a feasible alternative for agricultural development. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the sustainability of the Farm Management Center (FMC) model as a specific private agricultural extension option in El Salvador. To pursue this objective, an ex ante economic and financial cost-benefit analysis based on a multiperiod linear programming model is performed. The general results of this study suggest that a combination of better farm prices (paid and received), reallocation of resources, and crop diversification, which would be promoted by an FMC, can lead Daniel Solís is Research Associate, Office of International Affairs (OIA), and a Graduate Student,

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“…That is, this discussion of attribution is not referring to analytical attribution problems by the empirical researcher. However, for readers interested in the challenges that long lag times impose on analytical attribution of agricultural research and development investments, see Alston and Pardey (2001). 7.…”

Section: Some Directions For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political Economy Determinants of Public Spending Allocations: A Review of Theories, and Implications for Agricultural Public Investment

Mogues

2015

Eur J Dev Res

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Agricultural public investments in developing countries can have substantial effects on performance in the sector and beyond. In the examination of actual resource allocation decisions by governments and donors, it is striking that strong evidence of the high economic contributions of particular types of public investments seems to coexist with a relative neglect of these public goods provisions in budget portfolios, and vice versa. This article sets out to understand this incongruence, by examining the political economy drivers of public expenditure allocation and composition. It reviews theories and empirical investigations on how (i) the incentives and constraints of key actors -including politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups and donors, (ii) the characteristics of publicly provided goods and services and (iii) country-wide political governance environments affect the prioritisation of public investments.Dans les pays en développement, les dépenses publiques dans le secteur de l'agriculture ont des effets substantiels sur la performance du secteur, et au-delà du secteur même. En examinant les décisions d'allocation des ressources par les gouvernements et les donneurs, on découvre que des investissements publics qui apportent évidemment des fortes contributions économiques coexistent avec un état d'abandon relatif de ces mêmes provisions de biens publiques dans les portefeuilles budgétaires, et vice versa. Le but de cette étude c'est de comprendre cette incongruence, en examinant les effets des leviers de politique économique dans la composition et allocation des dépenses publiques. On examine théories et études empiriques sur comment la priorisation des investissements publiques est affecté par: (i) les motivations et les contraintes des acteurs principaux -y inclus les politiciens, les bureaucrates, les groups d'intérêt, et les donneurs; (II) Les caractéristiques des biens et services de provision publique; (iii) la gouvernance politique au niveau du pays.

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Attribution and other problems in assessing the returns to agricultural R&D

Abstract: Journal articleISI; IFPRI3EPTDP

Cited by 26 publications

References 22 publications

International and Institutional R&D Spillovers: Attribution of Benefits among Sources for Brazil's New Crop Varieties

International and Institutional R&D Spillovers: Attribution of Benefits among Sources for Brazil's New Crop Varieties

Economic and Financial Sustainability of Private Agricultural Extension in El Salvador

Political Economy Determinants of Public Spending Allocations: A Review of Theories, and Implications for Agricultural Public Investment

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