R&D Capital, R&D Spillovers, and Productivity Growth in World Agriculture

Increasing the world’s food supply has depended heavily on increasing agricultural productivity, which in turn depends on investments in research and development (R&D). This article synthesizes findings from more than 40 studies on how R&D investments affect agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) in various parts of the world. The article breaks out the relative contributions to TFP growth of R&D by public institutions, private companies, and the CGIAR (a consortium of international agricultural research centers), including international technology spillovers. Major differences emerge between global regions in sources and efficiency of R&D capital. Developed countries appear to have benefitted more from private and international R&D spillovers than developing countries.