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

Abstract

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.

The economic and poverty impacts of maize research in West and Central Africa

“…The economic surplus model has long been used in assessing the economic impact of agricultural research (Akino and Hayami, 1975; Byerlee and Traxler, 1995; Dalton and Guei, 2003; Griliches, 1958; Pardey et al, 2002, 2006). Alston et al (1995) discuss several variants of the economic surplus model and present procedures for estimating research benefits for different scenarios in both ex ante and ex post analysis.…”

“…To isolate the contribution of MVs to yield increases, on‐farm experimental yield data were assembled from on‐farm trials conducted by the network of maize research program partners in the region. Experimental yields have the advantage of holding many of the variables influencing yields constant and hence provide a good approximation of the contribution to yield gains of variety improvement research (Pardey et al, 2002, 2006). The yield gains, estimated this way, are net of the effects of other inputs and hence represent net yield gains.…”

“…The yield gains, estimated this way, are net of the effects of other inputs and hence represent net yield gains. Although absolute yields achieved in experimental trials would be higher than those in farmers' fields, it is not obvious whether the yield gains in trials would also be greater (Pardey et al, 2002, 2006). It was thus assumed that the relative gains achieved in on‐farm experimental trials would be representative of the relative gains realized by farmers.…”

“…When we can attribute benefits to one or another institution, we make an implicit assumption about what the other actors would otherwise have been able to accomplish. In this study, we follow the recent examples of Pardey et al (2002, 2006), Morris (2002), and Fan et al (2005), and use a range of attribution rules based on the ancestry of each variety release. Pardey et al (2002, 2006), for example, used this approach to attribute benefits to Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) from variety improvement research in Brazil.…”

A tale of two countries: Spatial and temporal patterns of rice productivity in China and Brazil

“…It also established the Upland Rice and Bean Research Centre (CNPAF) in 1974 and has released a total of 35 new varieties over the period 1976-2000(Pardey et al 2006. Despite the interest of the institute for upland rice, the adoption of modern upland rice varieties is still low.…”