Public agricultural R&D over the past half century: an emerging new world order |
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Authors: | Philip G. Pardey Julian M. Alston Connie Chan‐Kang |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, , MN, 55108 USA;2. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, , Davis, CA, 95616 USA |
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Abstract: | Recent trends in farm productivity and food prices raise concerns about whether the era of global agricultural abundance is over. Agricultural R&D is a crucial determinant of agricultural productivity and production, and therefore food prices and poverty. In this article, we present entirely new evidence on investments in public agricultural R&D worldwide as an indicator of the prospects for agricultural productivity growth over the coming decades. The agricultural R&D world is changing, and in ways that will definitely affect future global patterns of poverty, hunger, and other outcomes. The overall picture is one in which the middle‐income countries are growing in relative importance as producers of agricultural innovations through investments in R&D, and have consequently better prospects as producers of agricultural products. |
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Keywords: | Public research spending United States Africa China Brazil Technical change Innovation Long‐term trends O13 O31 Q61 |
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