The "Efficient Boundaries" of International Agricultural Research: A Conceptual Framework with Empirical Illustrations

Josey Kamanda, Regina Birner () and Cynthia Bantilan

No 211826, 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy from International Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: The role of international agricultural research centers (IARCs) has long been a subject of discussion, often with emphasis that they should conduct research that produces international public goods (IPGs). However, centers still face a dilemma on how to balance between IPGs and location-specific work. This paper contributes to the development of principles by which they should position themselves. Transaction cost economics was applied to develop a framework, which is then illustrated with an empirical case study of legume research at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. A participatory mapping technique (Net-Map) was combined with key informant interviews in India, Malawi and Ethiopia. We find that IARCS play an important role in germplasm improvement, the field in which they have a comparative advantage. However, due to insufficient capacity of national systems, they also engage in downstream activities. This reduces incentives for governments and donors to overcome governance challenges.

Keywords: Agricultural; and; Food; Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-ino
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Journal Article: The “efficient boundaries” of international agricultural research: A conceptual framework with empirical illustrations (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:iaae15:211826

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.211826

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