Spillover Impacts of Agricultural Research: A Review of Studies

Measurement of the spillover effects of research has drawn significant attention in recent years. Three aspects of spillover effects — spillover as an input in the research policy debate, as an input to support research management decisionmakers, and as an input in the fine-tuning of research evaluation methodology — are very important to understand (Davis 1991). Consideration of the spillover effects has significant implications for research policy design and evaluation of research benefits. Research systems generate technologies for target environments and commodities. However, the outcome of a research effort often impacts an area wider than the target. Thus, research systems generate two types of benefits for their investors: direct and spillover effects. Conventional research evaluation considers only the direct benefits and ignores the spillover. As a result, output from research is underestimated. So when policymakers decide on the level of investment to be made in research, they are likely to do so on the basis of such underestimated benefits. Therefore, the investment is likely to be less than optimum. If, however, spillover effects were quantified, they would help in making research investment decisions more attuned with the needs. Incorporation of spillover effects in the research policy design would also enhance the transparency of the decision-making process. Research spillover effects also have an impact on the competitiveness of farmers in different regions and countries. National research planning tends to underestimate returns to research by not considering spillover effects and, therefore, tends to underinvest in research. International research support, whether bilateral, regional or multilateral, is normally designed to complement national research activities and to generate maximum international rather than national research benefits. It selects research portfolios with an explicit consideration of the likely spillover benefits for countries with similar agroclimatic and socioeconomic environments