IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/impass/9.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Returns to policy-related social science research in agriculture

Author

Listed:
  • Gardner, Bruce L.

Abstract

Policy research is valuable as a source of information for decisionmakers. The value of research is the expected social gain from policy decisions influenced by the information generated. The gain from a decision depends on choosing the best policy given the state of the world, which is uncertain. The output of policy research is a conclusion about that state. Taking a Bayesian approach, the ex ante value of a research program is estimated from information about decisionmakers' prior probabilities of the state of the world and the likelihood of correct and incorrect research findings. Case studies of U.S. agricultural policy research cover consequences of trade liberalization, farm commodity program analysis, effects of publicly supported commodity promotion, and the value of publicly funded crop forecasting and research on agricultural technology. The quantification of the value of these research programs is highly conjectural, but consideration of their likely magnitude, as compared to the costs of the research, suggests that there are substantial net social gains.

Suggested Citation

  • Gardner, Bruce L., 1999. "Returns to policy-related social science research in agriculture," Impact assessments 9, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:impass:9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.ifpri.org/cdmref/p15738coll2/id/125781/filename/125812.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tyers,Rod & Anderson,Kym, 2011. "Disarray in World Food Markets," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521172318, September.
    2. Julian M. Alston & Philip G. Pardey & Jennifer S. James & Matthew A. Anderson, 2009. "The Economics of Agricultural R&D," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 537-566, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Daniel A. Sumner, 1995. "Agricultural Trade Policy: Letting Markets Work," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 53513, September.
    5. J. Bruce Bullock, 1976. "Social Costs Caused by Errors in Agricultural Production Forecasts," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 58(1), pages 76-80.
    6. Julian M. Alston & Philip G. Pardey, 1996. "Making Science Pay: The Economics of Agricultural R&D Policy," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 53242, September.
    7. Huffman, Wallace E. & Evenson, Robert E., 1993. "Science for Agriculture: A Long Term Perspective," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10997, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    8. 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.
    9. Blisard, Noel & Blaylock, James R. & Smallwood, David, 1996. "Fluid Milk and Cheese Advertising," Staff Reports 278800, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. John P. Doll, 1971. "Obtaining Preliminary Bayesian Estimates of the Value of a Weather Forecast," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 53(4), pages 651-655.
    11. Lindner, Bob, 1987. "Toward A Framework for Evaluating Agricultural Economics Research," Discussion Papers 315419, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    12. John W. Freebairn, 1976. "Welfare Implications Of More Accurate Rational Forecast Prices," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 20(2), pages 92-102, August.
    13. Hayami, Yujiro & Peterson, Willis, 1972. "Social Returns to Public Information Services: Statistical Reporting of U. S. Farm Commodities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(1), pages 119-130, March.
    14. Robert K. Lindner, 1987. "Toward A Framework For Evaluating Agricultural Economics Research," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 31(2), pages 95-111, August.
    15. E. Pasour & Marc Johnson, 1982. "Bureaucratic productivity: The case of agricultural research revisited," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 301-317, January.
    16. David F. Bradford & Harry H. Kelejian, 1978. "The Value of Information for Crop Forecasting with Bayesian Speculators: Theory and Empirical Results," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(1), pages 123-144, Spring.
    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. Pearce, David, 2005. "Review of ACIAR's Research on Agricultural Policy," Impact Assessment Series (IAS) 113220, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
    2. Alwang, Jeffrey & Puhazhendhi, V., 2002. "The impact of the International Food Policy Research Institute's research program on rural finance policies for food security for the poor," Impact assessments 16, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Schimmelpfennig, David E. & Norton, George W., 2000. "What Value Is Agricultural Economics Research?," 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL 21773, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Ryan, Jim, 2002. "Assessing the impact of food policy research: rice trade policies in Viet Nam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-29, February.
    5. Mullen, John D., 2004. "Impact Assessment of ACIAR-funded Projects on Grain-market Reform in China," Impact Assessment Series (IAS) 113252, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.
    6. Babu, Suresh Chandra., 2000. "Impact of IFPRI's policy research on resource allocation and food security in Bangladesh," Impact assessments 13, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Paarlberg, Robert, 2005. "Regional policy networks: IFPRI's experience with decentralization," Impact assessments 24, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Ryan, James G., 1999. "Assessing the impact of rice policy changes in Viet Nam and the contribution of policy research," Impact assessments 8, 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. Norton, George W., 1987. "Evaluating Social Science Research in Agriculture," Evaluating Agricultural Research and Productivity, Proceedings of a Workshop, Atlanta, Georgia, January 29-30, 1987, Miscellaneous Publication 52 50028, University of Minnesota, Agricultural Experiment Station.
    2. Alston, Julian M. & Marra, Michele C. & Pardey, Philip G. & Wyatt, T.J., 2000. "Research returns redux: a meta-analysis of the returns to agricultural R&D," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 44(2), pages 1-31.
    3. Lindner, Robert K., 1987. "Toward A Framework For Evaluating Agricultural Economics Research," Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 31(2), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Alston, Julian M. & Pardey, Philip G., 2001. "Attribution and other problems in assessing the returns to agricultural R&D," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 25(2-3), pages 141-152, September.
    5. Ryan, Jim, 2002. "Assessing the impact of food policy research: rice trade policies in Viet Nam," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 1-29, February.
    6. Lindner, Bob, 1987. "Toward A Framework for Evaluating Agricultural Economics Research," Discussion Papers 315419, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    7. Alston, Julian M. & Wyatt, T. J. & Pardey, Philip G. & Marra, Michele C. & Chan-Kang, Connie, 2000. "A meta-analysis of rates of return to agricultural R & D: ex pede Herculem?," Research reports 113, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Norton, George W. & Alwang, Jeffrey, 1997. "Policy for Plenty: Measuring the Benefits of Policy-oriented Social Science Research," Staff Papers 232552, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    9. Philip G. Pardey & Julian M. Alston & Connie Chan-Kang & Eduardo C. Magalhães & Stephen A. Vosti, 2006. "International and Institutional R&D Spillovers: Attribution of Benefits among Sources for Brazil's New Crop Varieties," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(1), pages 104-123.
    10. Thirtle, Colin G. & Srinivasan, Chittur S. & Heisey, Paul W., 2001. "Public Sector Plant Breeding In A Privatizing World," Agricultural Information Bulletins 33775, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    11. Pardey, Philip G. & Alston, Julian M. & Chan-Kang, Connie & Magalhães, Eduardo C. & Vosti, Stephen A., 2002. "Assessing and attributing the benefits from varietal improvement research: evidence from Embrapa, Brazil," EPTD discussion papers 95, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Roe, Terry L. & Mohtadi, Hamid, 1999. "International Trade And Growth: An Overview From The Perspective Of The New Growth Theory," 1999 Annual meeting, August 8-11, Nashville, TN 21536, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    13. Gray, Richard S. & Malla, Stavroula & Tran, Kien C., 2005. "Pecuniary, Non-Pecuniary, and Downstream Research Spillovers: The Case of Canola," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24776, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Byerlee, Derek R. & Anderson, Jock R., 1982. "Risk, Utility and the Value of Information in Farmer Decision Making," Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 50(03), pages 1-16, December.
    15. 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.
    16. Rafsnider, Giles T. & Skold, Melvin D. & Driscoll, Richard S., 1983. "Increases In Costs And Returns Due To Intensifying Range Forage Production Surveys: An Information Economic Analysis," Western Journal of Agricultural Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, July.
    17. Alston, Julian M. & Pardey, Philip G., 2000. "Reassessing Research Returns: Attribution and Related Problems," 2000 Conference, August 13-18, 2000, Berlin, Germany 197205, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Schimmelpfennig, David E. & Norton, George W., 2000. "What Value Is Agricultural Economics Research?," 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL 21773, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    19. Richards, Timothy J. & Padilla, Luis, 2001. "Commodity R&D, Patenting, And Promotion," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20497, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    20. Alston, Julian M. & Pardey, Philip G. & Roseboom, Johannes, 1998. "Financing agricultural research: International investment patterns and policy perspectives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1057-1071, June.

    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:fpr:impass:9. 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: the person in charge (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.