Intellectual property rights such as patents protect new inventions from imitation and competition. Patents' major objective is to provide incentives for invention, sacrificing short-term market efficiency for long-term economic gains. Although patents are primarily granted to private firms,...

This paper provides quantitative evidence on the impact of the Training and Visit (T & V) extension system in the irrigated Punjab of Pakistan. Three models are analyzed using limited dependent variable regressions: the impact of T & V on the number of extension contacts with farmers; the effect...

Investment in scientific research is key for boosting corn yields, making productivity, environmental, and bioenergy goals easier to attain.

Concentration in several global agricultural input industries has risen significantly; by 2009, the largest four firms in the crop seed, agricultural chemical, animal health, animal genetics/breeding, and farm machinery sectors accounted for more than 50 percent of global market sales in each...

Agricultural biotechnology has been advancing very rapidly, and while it presents many promises, it also poses as many questions. Many dimensions to agricultural biotechnology need to be considered to adequately inform public policy. Policy is made more difficult by the fact that agricultural...

Intellectual property protection, globalization, and pressure on public budgets in many industrialized countries have shifted the balance of plant breeding activity from the public to the private sector. Several economic factors influence the relative shares of public versus private sector plant...