Competitive Grants and the Funding of Agricultural Research in the United States |
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| Authors: | Kelly Day Rubenstein Paul W. Heisey Cassandra Klotz-Ingram George B. Frisvold |
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| Affiliation: | Kelly Day Rubenstein and Paul W. Heisey are economists at USDA Economic Research Service, Resource Economics Division.;Cassandra Klotz-Ingram is an economist at the Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.;George B. Frisvold is an associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of Arizona, Tucson. |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
Efforts to improve public agricultural research efficiency include calls to increase use of competitive grants. This paper empirically assesses different instruments the USDA uses to fund state-level research. Compared with other instruments, competitive grants focus more on basic research and are concentrated among fewer states. Model results suggest that top-ranked biology and agricultural science programs were strong determinants of states' shares of competitive grants. Other significant factors were agricultural sector size and number of agricultural scientists. USDA-funded state-level research focus did not change significantly because competitive grants comprised only 15% of these funds and other instruments counteracted their influence. |
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