A NONPARAMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF RESEARCH ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY

Nonparametric productivity analysis is extended by modeling technical progress as a function of public and private research expenditures. Results indicate that 30-year lags are required to fully capture the effects of public research expenditures on U.S. agricultural productivity. Compared to public research, private research has a stronger influence on farm productivity in the short term but a smaller influence in the longer term. The internal rate of return is 0.28 for public research and 0.17 for private research.