Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index

The conventional wisdom that developing countries are significantly underinvesting in agricultural research and development (R&D) has been challenged by studies that found that the high rates of return in the literature result from data limitations and inadequate modeling choices. However, evidence...

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Main Author: Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Agricultural Economics Research Association 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142287
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author Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
author_browse Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
author_facet Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
author_sort Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The conventional wisdom that developing countries are significantly underinvesting in agricultural research and development (R&D) has been challenged by studies that found that the high rates of return in the literature result from data limitations and inadequate modeling choices. However, evidence of low research effort in developing countries as measured by the intensity ratio (IR)—the percentage of agricultural gross domestic product invested in agricultural R&D—has not been questioned. This article argues that the IR is an inadequate indicator of research effort and proposes an alternative index to measure R&D intensity. Using the proposed index, we find that the investment effort in developing countries is much higher than the one observed when the IR is used, that the contribution of low‐ and middle‐income (LMI) countries to growth in global R&D intensity was higher to that of high‐income (HI) countries in recent years, that the investment gap in LMI countries is close to 50% of R&D investment, and that the proposed development goal of a 1.0% value of the IR is beyond the possibilities of most Asian and African countries.
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spelling CGSpace1422872024-10-25T08:04:12Z Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index Nin-Pratt, Alejandro development investment technology agricultural research research agriculture sciences agricultural research for development investment policies agricultural development The conventional wisdom that developing countries are significantly underinvesting in agricultural research and development (R&D) has been challenged by studies that found that the high rates of return in the literature result from data limitations and inadequate modeling choices. However, evidence of low research effort in developing countries as measured by the intensity ratio (IR)—the percentage of agricultural gross domestic product invested in agricultural R&D—has not been questioned. This article argues that the IR is an inadequate indicator of research effort and proposes an alternative index to measure R&D intensity. Using the proposed index, we find that the investment effort in developing countries is much higher than the one observed when the IR is used, that the contribution of low‐ and middle‐income (LMI) countries to growth in global R&D intensity was higher to that of high‐income (HI) countries in recent years, that the investment gap in LMI countries is close to 50% of R&D investment, and that the proposed development goal of a 1.0% value of the IR is beyond the possibilities of most Asian and African countries. 2021-03-01 2024-05-22T12:10:16Z 2024-05-22T12:10:16Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142287 en Open Access Agricultural Economics Research Association Nin-Pratt, Alejandro. 2021. Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index. Agricultural Economics 52(2): 317-328. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12620
spellingShingle development
investment
technology
agricultural research
research
agriculture
sciences
agricultural research for development
investment policies
agricultural development
Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index
title Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index
title_full Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index
title_fullStr Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index
title_full_unstemmed Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index
title_short Agricultural R&D investment intensity: A misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index
title_sort agricultural r d investment intensity a misleading conventional measure and a new intensity index
topic development
investment
technology
agricultural research
research
agriculture
sciences
agricultural research for development
investment policies
agricultural development
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142287
work_keys_str_mv AT ninprattalejandro agriculturalrdinvestmentintensityamisleadingconventionalmeasureandanewintensityindex