Economic Returns to Public

Agricultural Research 

Keith O. Fuglie and Paul W. Heisey

Over the last several decades, the U.S. agricultural sector has sustained

impressive productivity growth. The Nation’s agricultural research 

system, including Federal-State public research as well as private-sector

research, has been a key driver of this growth. Economic analysis finds

strong and consistent evidence that investment in agricultural research

has yielded high returns per dollar spent. These returns include benefits

not only to the farm sector but also to the food industry and consumers in

the form of more abundant commodities at lower prices. While studies

using different methods and coverage give a range of estimates of returns

to agricultural research, there is a consensus that the payoff from the 

government’s investment in agricultural research has been high. 

ECONOMIC BRIEF NUMBER 10 • September 2007

United States Department of Agriculture

Economic Research Service
Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ECONOMIC BRIEF

2

Agricultural Productivity Growth Is a Driving Force in U.S. Agriculture

Whether measured as crop yield per acre, milk and meat yield per animal, or average output per farm

worker, the productivity of U.S. agriculture is among the highest in the world. The reasons for gains

in productivity are many. For example, corn yields have increased through greater use of agricultural

inputs, such as more fertilizers and machinery per acre of land. The development of new technology,

however, also has helped boost yields. New technologies not only made inputs more effective but

allowed them to be combined in new and better ways. For example, precision agriculture allows

farmers to target fertilizer use more judiciously, raising crop yields and reducing costs. ERS has 

developed statistical series to distinguish the contribution of changes in input use from that of other

factors affecting the growth of the agricultural sector. In particular, ERS has developed an index

measure of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) to distinguish the effects of innovation and related factors

on the growth of agricultural output.1 In the long run, growth in TFP is the primary source of new

wealth creation in the economy. Therefore, trends in agricultural TFP may provide an indication of the

longrun performance of the sector. 

For the period 1948-2004, the index value for output reached 266 in 2004, compared with the base

year, 1948, meaning that total agricultural production in 2004 was 2.66 times higher than it was in

1948 (fig. 1). Over the same period, aggregate use of inputs (land, labor, capital, and intermediate

inputs) in agriculture actually decreased slightly. Although the use of some inputs, such as fertilizer

and machinery, increased, these increases were offset by reductions in cropland and, especially, the

amount of labor employed in agriculture. Overall, the amount of crop and livestock output produced

per unit of (aggregate) input, or the change in TFP, increased dramatically. From 1948 to 2004, 

agricultural productivity growth was strong in each decade, allowing output to grow with little or no

increase in inputs throughout the period. 

Today’s Investment in Research Drives Tomorrow’s Growth in Productivity

Analysts have found a strong link between investments in research and innovation and agricultural

productivity growth. However, there is a long lead time between the research stage of a new 

technology and the point at which that technology is adopted and begins to affect productivity. 

Therefore, tracking research investments in food and agriculture is a good indicator of the likely future

trends in agricultural productivity growth. In the United States, both the public sector (Federal and

State governments) and the private sector invest heavily in agricultural research. From 1971 to the late

1990s, public and private agricultural research spending combined rose from just over 3 percent to

about 7 percent of agricultural GDP (analysts have not been able to systematically track private-sector

investments in food and agricultural research since 1998 due to unavailability of comparable data)(fig.

2). In constant 2001 dollars, annual spending on food and agricultural research in the United States

increased from about $4.6 billion to $8.8 billion between 1970

and the late 1990s, with the private sector accounting for most

of this growth. Public spending for agricultural research was

mostly flat (after adjusting for inflation) between 1978 and

1998 but showed some renewed growth during 1998-2004.

Note that public spending on agricultural research includes not

only support for productivity-oriented research but also

research on natural resources, food nutrition and safety, rural

development, and economics. About 60 percent of public agricultural research is for enhancing productivity and the rest is

for other objectives or fields of study. About 70 percent of

private research in the late 1990s was oriented to farm production and about 30 percent went to food manufacturing.

Figure 1

Changes in U.S. agricultural output, inputs, and 

Total Factor Productivity since 1948

1948 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96 00 04

Index: 1948=100

Source: USDA/ERS. 

Total output

Total inputs

Total Factor Productivity

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

1For more information on 

trends in agricultural productivity growth, see the ERS

Economic Brief Productivity

Growth in U.S. Agriculture.

Fuglie, Keith O., and Paul W.

Heisey. Economic Returns to

Public Agricultural Research.

EB-10, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research

Service. September 2007.

Recommended citation 

format for this publication:
Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research ECONOMIC BRIEF

3 ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE

Economic Studies Find High Social Returns to 

Investments in Agricultural Research 

Economic assessments of payoffs from public investments in

agricultural research have attempted to determine the “social

rate of return” to this expenditure (see box, “How Economists

Evaluate Returns to Agricultural Research”). This is reported

as a percent return on each dollar spent on research. The return

is “social” because it includes all of the economywide benefits

from higher productivity. These returns benefit not only

farmers but also the food industry and consumers, who gain

from more abundant and lower cost commodities. As a 

benchmark, social returns to public expenditures are often

compared with the return to U.S. Treasury Bonds as a measure

of the opportunity cost of public funds. Historically, the real

return on U.S. government securities (the real return equals the

nominal return minus the inflation rate) has been around 

3-4 percent per year.

Against this benchmark, economic studies find that public expenditures on agricultural research have

yielded real returns several magnitudes higher. Some of these studies have estimated returns to

research on particular commodities or in particular States, but several have assessed returns to 

investment in the Federal-State public agricultural research system as a whole, for various periods of

the 20th century. For 35 studies published over 1965-2005 that were reviewed by Professors Wallace

Huffman (Iowa State University) and Robert Evenson (Yale University), the median estimate of the

social rate of return was 45 percent per year (table 1). As a rough approximation, this implies that

each dollar spent on agricultural research returned about $10 worth of benefits to the economy.2

Although these studies have produced a range of estimates of the rate of return to 

agricultural research (estimates are sensitive to methods and assumptions), they all agree that the

return to public agricultural research has been significantly higher than the benchmark return from

government securities.

ERS analyzed findings from 27 studies that assessed the rate of return to public agricultural research

in the United States over various periods of the 20th century. Estimated rates of return varied

depending on study methodology and coverage, but the major share ranged from 20 to 60 percent 

(fig. 3). Specific results from several of these studies (those published in peer-reviewed journals or as

Ph.D. theses) are reported in table 2. Most of the studies were published in the 1970s through the

1990s, which suggests the estimates are becoming somewhat dated. We have found only one study

estimating returns to agricultural research published since 2000. 

Several other conclusions can be drawn from the literature on returns to agricultural research:

Returns to research have been high for most crop and livestock commodities. 

Economic studies that have estimated returns to research on particular crop or livestock

commodities have usually found evidence of high returns, although returns do vary by

commodity and over time. However, there is little clear evidence that research on certain

commodities has given consistently higher returns than research on other commodities. 

Figure 2

Public and private food and agricultural research 

spending relative to agricultural GDP

1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001

Percent of ag. GDP

Source: USDA, ERS (public and private agricultural research expenditures)

and Economic Report of the President (agricultural GDP calculated as a

3-year moving average). 

All agricultural research

Public agricultural research

Private agricultural research

10

8

6

4

2

0

2An internal rate of return can

be converted (approximately)

into a benefit-cost ratio by 

dividing the social rate of return

by the opportunity cost of 

capital. If we allow 4 percent

(the longrun real yield of U.S.

Government securities) to 

represent the cost of social

capital, then a rate of return to

research of 40 percent would

imply a benefit-cost ratio of

about 10 to 1.
Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ECONOMIC BRIEF

4

Economic evaluations of agricultural research are based on comparisons between (i) public and

private investments in agricultural knowledge creation and dissemination, and (ii) long-term

changes in agricultural productivity. Conceptualization of this process is as follows:

Expenditures on agricultural research generate new knowledge that eventually leads to

improved technology that is adopted by farmers.

Technology adoption increases average productivity (the output of crop and livestock

commodities per unit of land, labor, capital, and intermediate inputs employed in 

production). 

Higher productivity of agricultural resources leads to lower costs, higher production,

and/or exit of some resources (such as labor) from the agricultural sector.

Given physiological limits to per capita demand for food, higher agricultural production

leads to lower commodity prices, passing some of the technology-induced cost reductions

on to the food industry and consumers. Thus, benefits of productivity-enhancing 

agricultural research are shared between the farm and nonfarm sectors of the economy.

The accompanying figure illustrates the typical time pattern of development, adoption, 

and eventual obsolescence of agricultural technology. As shown, a public (or private) 

institution invests in the development of a new technology (such as a new crop variety with

disease resistance) and spends several years working on that effort (“research costs” in the

figure). After about 7 years, the technology is successfully developed and farmers begin to

adopt it. Costs are still incurred in extension efforts, and benefits grow as more farmers adopt

the technology and reap higher yields or lower production costs. In the figure, it takes about 

8 years (from year 7 until year 15) for the technology to be fully adopted and benefits 

maximized thereafter. But after some time, the technology eventually goes out of use, either

because something better replaces it or because it loses its effectiveness (due to buildup of

resistance in the pathogen, for

example). An economic evaluation of

the research endeavor weighs the size

of the research and extension costs

against the economic benefits from

technology adoption, discounting the

benefit and cost streams to measure

them in terms of their “present value.”

There are two main approaches used 

to estimate economic returns to 

agricultural research:

Statistical analysis relating past 

expenditures on research to current changes in productivity. These models try to establish a

statistical correlation between when, where, and what research was done and productivity gains

in agriculture. The analysis is usually done at a fairly aggregate level and covers a long 

Flows of research costs and benefits over time

Gross annual

benefits

($/year)

Annual costs

(--$/year) Research 

and

development

Adoption process

Source: Alston, Norton, and Pardey, 1995. 

0

5 10 15 20 25 30 years

Research 

costs

Research benefits

How Economists Evaluate Returns to Agricultural Research 
Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research ECONOMIC BRIEF

5 ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE

period of time. For example, a study may look at the annual pattern of changes in agricultural productivity at the

national or State level over several decades and then relate this in a regression model to investments in public and

private agricultural research and extension over a similar period (with research investments beginning earlier than

productivity changes to account for the lag time between research and technology adoption). These studies also

examine effects of other factors that may contribute to productivity growth, like investments in rural education,

extension, and infrastructure. If regression analysis finds positive and significant correlations between research

expenditures (appropriately lagged) and productivity changes, then this is taken as evidence of a causal relationship. An estimate of the rate of return to research is derived from the regression coefficients. 

Project evaluation methods tracing the development and dissemination of innovations. An early example of this

approach was a study by Zvi Griliches (Dept. of Econ., University of Chicago) in the 1950s on the returns to

research on hybrid maize. He estimated the benefits of hybrid maize by measuring the economic value of higher

maize yield made possible from this innovation. On the cost side, he estimated the cost of research and extension

(by both the public and private sectors) beginning with the work of George Schull of the Carnegie Institution and

Donald Jones of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, who developed the theory of hybrid vigor and

invented the double-cross method of hybrid seed production.

The case study method provides a clearer cause-and-effect relationship between agricultural research and 

productivity growth than the regression method. But the case study method has largely been limited to analysis of

research “success stories.” Regression methods, on the other hand, assess the system at a more aggregate level

and take into account expenditures on research that may or may not lead to successes and, therefore, tend to give

a more balanced measure of average returns to a research system. Both approaches involve estimating 

relationships between the size of investment in research and the economic value of increased productivity, taking

into account the appropriate time dimension between when research is done and when economic benefits are 

realized, such as the case depicted in the figure. Estimates of social returns to research may be overstated if 

undesirable outputs (e.g., environmental degradation) are not taken into account. Similarly, social returns may be

understated if new technology reduces undesirable outputs.

Some of the most challenging aspects of these models are: 

Lags: Identifying the appropriate lag relationship between when research is done and when productivity 

growth occurs. 

Spillovers: Accounting for knowledge or research “spillovers” across geographic space. Spillovers occur

when research done in one State, region, or country contributes to new knowledge or technology that is used

in another geographic area. 

Attribution: Accounting for the many elements that come together to contribute to the development and 

application of new technology to agriculture. In addition to publicly funded agricultural research, 

contributions include those made by basic sciences, innovations from the private sector, farmer education,

the training role of extension services, and improvements to rural infrastructure. These institutional sources

are often complementary, and failure to account for the contribution of one source may overattribute

observed gains in productivity to another source. Including all these sources in a model may give an 

indication of the relative importance of each source (and the relative rate of return to each). Some studies go

even further to try to distinguish returns to agricultural research done by Federal or State institutions, or even

by different Federal funding instruments (e.g., formula versus competitive grants). But putting finer 

and finer distinctions among sources of innovation and types of research expenditure places a heavy 

burden on the data.
Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ECONOMIC BRIEF

6

There appear to be significant social returns to 

private agricultural research.

Manufacturing industries, especially for chemical,

machinery, pharmaceuticals, and food and feed processing

(and, more recently, for biotechnology), are significant

sources of new technology for agriculture. The private sector

earns a return from its investment in agricultural research in

the profit it makes on sales of improved chemicals, machines,

feeds, breeds, and seeds to farmers. If the private sector could

capture all of the benefits of its technology through the price

it charges for its products, then private research would not

register as a source of improvement in farm productivity (the

value of higher output would be offset by the higher cost of

inputs). Only a few studies have assessed social returns to private agricultural research, and 

findings suggest that private research does contribute significantly to measured productivity

growth in agriculture (table 1), implying that the private sector is able to capture only a share of

the productivity benefits from its technology. 

Agricultural research generates long-term benefits.

That an investment in research entails a long lag time before it produces tangible economic

impact is well understood. It is also clear that the lag is longer for more basic research than for

more applied research, and that a sizeable share of research undertaken may never be applied to

technology development that is adopted by farmers. Economists have used regression models to

try to determine the average lag of agricultural research undertaken by the public sector in the

United States and to determine how long this research continues to contribute to productivity

growth until it becomes obsolete. As more data have been accumulated on agricultural research

and growth, it has become possible to estimate more sophisticated models on the statistical 

relationship between these variables. Current research on this topic suggests that, on average,

public agricultural research undertaken today will begin to noticeably influence agricultural

productivity in as little as 2 years and that its impact could be felt for as long as 30 years. 

Agricultural knowledge or research “spillovers” across State and national 

boundaries are significant.

Although much research in agriculture is oriented toward the ecological conditions of a particular State or region, there is strong evidence (from both statistical models and observation of

trade in agricultural inputs that embody new technology) that agricultural research done in one

location affects productivity in other regions or even other countries. Spillovers from livestock

research are generally greater than spillovers from crop research because livestock production is

less constrained by agro-ecological factors like soils and climate.

Table 1–Summary estimates of the rate of return to 

U.S. agricultural research

Studies, Mean Median

Item 1965-2005 estimate estimate

Social rate of returns to 

public agricultural research 35 53 45

Social rate of returns to

private agricultural research 4 45 45

Source: USDA, ERS, using data from Huffman and Evenson, 2006, 

and Fuglie et al.,1996.
Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research ECONOMIC BRIEF

7 ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE

Table 2—Estimates of the rate of return to Federal-State investment in agricultural research

Studies on the aggregate crop-animal sector

ROR estimate

Study Authors Pub. year Publication Period Coverage Mid Low High

1 Huffman & Evenson 2006 Am J Ag Econ 1970-1999 Crops & animals 56 49 62

2 Gopinath & Roe 2000 Econ Innov & Tech 1960-1991 Crops & animals 37

3 Makki et al. 1999 J Policy Modeling 1930-1990 Crops & animals 27

4 White 1995 J Ag Appl Econ 1950-1991 Crops & animals 40

5 Chavas & Cox 1992 Am J Ag Econ 1950-1982 Crops & animals 28

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Crops & animals 58

7 Yee 1992 J Ag Econ Res 1931-1985 Crops & animals 54 49 58

8 Braha & Tweeten 1986 Tech. Bull., Ok SU 1959-1982 Crops & animals 47

9 Lyu, White, Liu 1984 S J Ag Econ 1949-1981 Crops & animals 66

10 White & Havlicek 1982 Am J Ag Econ 1943-1977 Crops & animals 22 7 36

11 Davis 1979 PhD thesis, UMN 1949-1959 Crops & animals 83 66 100

11 Davis 1979 PhD thesis, UMN 1964-1974 Crops & animals 37

12 Knutson & Tweeten 1979 Am J Ag Econ 1949-1972 Crops & animals 38 28 47

13 Lu et al. 1979 Tech. Bull., ERS 1939-1972 Crops & animals 27 23 30

14 Bredahl & Peterson 1976 Am J Ag Econ 1937-1942 Crops & animals 56

14 Bredahl & Peterson 1976 Am J Ag Econ 1947-1957 Crops & animals 51

14 Bredahl & Peterson 1976 Am J Ag Econ 1957-1962 Crops & animals 49

14 Bredahl & Peterson 1976 Am J Ag Econ 1967-1972 Crops & animals 34

15 Cline 1975 PhD thesis, Ok SU 1939-1948 Crops & animals 46 41 50

16 Evenson 1968 PhD thesis, U Chic 1949-1959 Crops & animals 47

17 Peterson 1967 J Farm Econ 1915-1960 Crops & animals 23 21 25

18 Griliches 1964 Amer Econ Rev 1949-1959 Crops & animals 33 25 40

Studies on components of the agricultural sector

ROR estimate

Study Authors Pub. year Publication Period Mid Low High

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Beef & swine 55

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Dairy 95

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Poultry 46

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Grain crops 31

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Potatoes, cotton &

tobacco 34

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Vegetables &

melons 19

6 Norton & Ortiz 1992 J Production Agric 1987, state-level comp. Fruits & nuts 33

23 Haygreen et al. 1986 Forest Prod J 1972-1981 Forest products 25 14 36

22 Bengston 1984 Forest Science 1975, state-level comp. Forest products 21 19 22

19 Smith et al. 1983 J NE Ag Econ 1978, state-level comp. Beef & swine 22

19 Smith et al. 1983 J NE Ag Econ 1978, state-level comp. Dairy 25

19 Smith et al. 1983 J NE Ag Econ 1978, state-level comp. Poultry 61

21 Schmitz & Seckler 1970 Am J Ag Econ 1958-1969 Tomato harvester 42 37 46

17 Peterson 1967 J Farm Econ 1915-1960 Poultry 23 21 25

20 Griliches 1958 J. Poli. Econ 1940-1955 Corn 38 35 40

20 Griliches 1958 J. Poli. Econ 1940-1957 Sorghum 20

ROR = Rate of return. Most studies assessed productivity change over a period of years. “State-level comp.” refers to studies that compared

productivity among States at a point in time against past research expenditures in those States. Contact the authors for a complete 

set of references.

Source: USDA, ERS, using data from Huffman and Evenson, 2006, and Fuglie et al.,1996.
Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

ECONOMIC BRIEF

8

There are conjectures but little empirical evidence that returns to agricultural

research have fallen over time.

Over time, it may become increasingly difficult for scientists and engineers to find new ways of

raising crop yield or reducing the need for farm labor. In addition, as agricultural productivity

reaches increasingly high levels, it is probably necessary to devote more resources to simply

maintaining these levels rather than achieving even greater productivity. The need for more

maintenance research does not imply that returns to research would diminish (since preventing

productivity from falling has economic value) but it would imply that more research dollars

would be required to prevent that rate of productivity growth from falling. So far, economic

studies have not found any clear indication that the long-term growth rate in agricultural

productivity has declined. 

There has been little empirical work assessing returns to agricultural research

on nonmarket objectives (natural resource quality, food safety, economics, 

and policy).

The agricultural research system devotes considerable resources to research on natural

resources, food nutrition and safety, economics and statistics, and other objectives not directly

related to raising farm productivity. While economic studies have documented specific impacts

of some of this research, these nonmarket outcomes have not been incorporated into estimates

of returns to research. 

Long-Term Prospects for U.S. Agricultural Productivity Growth

One key factor that will shape future growth in U.S. agricultural productivity is the Nation’s 

investment in agricultural research, both in amount and in how well this research investment is used.

The U.S. agricultural research system consists of Federal, State, and private-sector elements. Policies

that shape this system include not only government spending for agricultural research but also 

policies that encourage private-sector research and farm adoption of new technology. A measure 

of the effectiveness of these policies is the level of public and private research 

expenditures relative to agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Agricultural GDP measures the

value added by the agricultural sector. Combined public and private spending on agricultural research

as a share of agricultural GDP more than doubled between 1970 and 1998 to just over 7 percent (see

fig. 2). Comparable data for private-sector research are not available for the years since 1998, but

public spending on agricultural research as a percentage of agricultural GDP continued to grow until

2002 and then fell in 2003

and 2004. So long as public

and private investment 

in agricultural research

continues to keep pace with

or grow faster than agricultural GDP, and so long as

this investment continues to

earn the high social rates of

return as in the past,

prospects for the agricultural sector to maintain

productivity growth are

favorable. 

Alston, Julian M., George W.

Norton, and Philip G. Pardey.

Science Under Scarcity:

Principles and Practices for

Agricultural Research Evaluation and Priority Setting.

Ithaca, NY: Cornell University

Press, 1995.

Fuglie, Keith O., Nicole

Ballenger, Kelly Day,

Cassandra Klotz, Michael

Ollinger, John Reilly, Utpal

Vasavada, and Jet Yee.

Agricultural Research and

Development: Public and

Private Investments Under

Alternative Markets and

Institutions. Agricultural 

Economics Report 735, U.S.

Department of Agriculture,

Economic Research Service,

May 1996, www.ers.usda.

gov/publications/aer735/

Griliches, Zvi. “Research

Costs and Social Returns:

Hybrid Corn and Related

Innovations,” Journal of

Political Economy 66 

(1958): 419-31. 

Huffman, Wallace E., and

Robert E. Evenson. Science

for Agriculture: A Long-Term

Perspective, 2nd Edition, 

Ames, IA: Blackwell

Publishing, 2006.

U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, Economic

Research Service. Agricultural Research and Productivity Briefing Room, ERS

website, www.ers.usda.gov/

briefing/agresearch/

This brief is drawn from . . .

Figure 3

Range of estimates of the rate of return to public

agricultural research in the United States

0 to 20 20 to 40 40 to 60 60 to 80 80 to 100

Range (percent)

Number of studies with estimate in range

Source: USDA, ERS, using data from Huffman and Evenson, 2006. 

15

10

5

0

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National Agricultural Library Cataloging Record: 

Fuglie, Keith Owen

 Economic returns to public agricultural research.

 (Economic brief ; no. 10)

 1. Agriculture—Research—Economic aspects—United States.

 2. Rate of return—United States.

 3. Agricultural productivity—United States.

 4. Food industry and trade—United States.

 I. Heisey, Paul W. II. United States. Dept. of Agriculture. Economic Research

 Service.

 III. Title.

S540.E25