A Note on the Measurement of Spillovers of Agricultural Research Results

Three measures of agricultural research spillovers considered entail estimates based on (l) level of agricultural research expenditures, (2) marginal products of agricultural research and extension expenditures, and (3) marginal products of agricultural research and extension expenditures weighted by the level of agricultural research expenditures. The methods produce diverse spillovers but results indicate that spillovers generally exceed regional benefits attributable to a region's investment in agricultural research and extension. Also, ratios of spillovers to regional benefits exceed ratios of federal to state expenditures on agricultural research suggesting potential social benefits from additional financial support of agricultural research by the federal government