O papel do estado na pesquisa agrícola no Brasil

Resumo

Investment in agricultural research can be viewed as any other kind of investment. But, in general, it is characterized by very high rates of return. Actually, rates of return of agricultural R&D on the order of magnitude of 20% to 30% per year are not uncommon. When this is the case, it seems clear that there is underinvestment in agricultural research. It is precisely for this reason that several countries have dedicated increasing amounts of resources to agricultural R&D and extension. In addition to that, the importance of increased resources for agricultural research aiming at increasing the supply of food in poor areas is undisputed. This is the reason why many international agencies have been created to foster the transfer of modern agricultural technologies to these countries. International aid has been well succeeded, in this respect. There is no evidence that resources devoted to agricultural research in Brazil so far have contributed to a decrease of returns, despite the considerable growth that these investments have experienced over the past few decades. Our analysis is aimed at studying this point with the help of cross-section data from the agricultural censuses of 1975 to 1985. The models devised for the purpose of evaluating the magnitudes of returns to agricultural investment in Brazil clearly point to results that confirm the hypothesis stated above: agricultural investments in research by Embrapa have been characterized by very large rates of return in the period analyzed. This suggests that additional resources should be applied in these activities.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Estudo

Ano

1998

Instituição

Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (Ipea)

Fonte

Repositório do Ipea

Idioma

Português

Acesso

Acesso aberto

Identificador

oai:repositorio.ipea.gov.br:11058/2422

Licença

Licença Padrão Ipea

Abrangência

Brasil; 1975-1985

Temas

Tecnologia

Palavras-chave

Pesquisa agrícolaIntervenção governamental na pesquisa agrícolaInvestimento em pesquisa agrícolaTransferência de tecnologia