Funding, Structure, and Management of Public Agricultural Research in the United States

Hypotheses about state agricultural experiment stations are investigated. Formula funding is found more productive than competitive‐grant funding, possibly owing to transactions costs of reviewing and misallocations of pork barrel funding. Heavier administrator involvement in problem choice is found to enhance productivity of applied research where approach and product can be well‐specified in advance, but detracts from productivity of pretechnology research where response to individual incentives may lead to more timely adaptations. Stronger vertical integration of pretechnology, applied sciences, and extension activities is found to increase productivity, suggesting the importance of strongly science‐based applied research and practical understanding of pretechnology sciences.