Advances in the genetic modification of agricultural seeds have allowed a range of new opportunities for manipulating seed traits according to production, market and environmental concerns. As seed varieties continue to become increasingly differentiated, preferences for specific seed traits may...

We used a state contingent approach to give a detailed analysis of the uncertainty surrounding seed trait adoption. Our framework emphasizes the role of timing and information in farmers’ adoption decisions. The inherent embeddedness of seed traits results in timing restrictions and the...

This paper uses data from dairy farmers in six U.S. states to examine farm-level factors influencing the adoption of recombinant bovine somatatropin (rBST), a productivity-enhancing hormone that is injected in cows. The results of multinomial logit estimations of rBST adoption and disadoption...

This work uses non-parametric efficiency analysis and a unique panel data set to analyze efficiency and technical change at US universities from 1981-1998 with a special emphasis on Land Grant institutions. The analysis demonstrates that Land Grants are on average more efficient than their...

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, key court decisions, and several breakthrough process technologies, paved the way for a period of remarkable growth in the patenting of life science research by U.S. universities in the 1980s and 1990s. Using a multiple-output cost framework and panel data on 96...

This article extends the characteristics-based choice framework of technology adoption to account for decisions taken by boundedly-rational individuals in environments where traits are not fully observed. It is applied to an agricultural setting and introduces the concept of ambiguity in the...