© 1985 Oxford University Press and the Foundation for the European Review of Agricultural Economics
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Returns to agricultural research: The case of rice breeding in Spain
Department of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Córdoba Spain
Summary
Public rice research in Spain has resulted in the adaption and development of modern rice varieties. Their widespread adoption has led to yield increases as well as to production-cost reductions by improving conditions for rice mechanization. The objectives of this paper are (a) to identify the social benefits from investment in the research program, and (b) to estimate their distribution among social groups. The approach used consists of estimating the gains in producers‘ and consumers’ surpluses from rice research, and to relate these gains to research expenditures by calculating an internal rate of return. The model employed permits the estimation of two types of social benefits derived from rice research: gross social benefits and net social benefits - their difference being the wage losses resulting from the adoption of the new technology generated by research activities. The results indicate that past investment in rice research has been yielding an annual net return of about 17% from the date of investment. Of the total net benefits, consumers have captured the major share.