AbslractGrowth in agriculture depends on many things but one of the most important is invcstmcnt in agricultural rcscurch, Decision making in the agricultural research policy arca can only be aidcd hy acccss to bouer information.This article overviews a recent cndeavor to move policy dialogue bcyond mcrcly qualitative impressions towards a proccss that is undcrpinned with ncw and cogcnt data. The data uscd havc becn asscmblcd at ISNAR in a manner dcsigncd to make comparisons both ovcr timc and bciwccn countries more valid than has beon thc case in the pas!. The comparisons thus possible reveal considerable divcrsity both between countrics and bctwccn bread regional aggregations. Also il!uminated hcrc arc issues rclatcd to the comrnodity orientation, capital and labor intensity, and sizc and scopc of particular national programs.0169-5150/94/$07.00 @ 1994 Elsevier Science BoY. Ali rights rcserved SSDI 01 ()~-5150(~3)E0035-L