Benefit Evaluation of Technological Improvements : Techno-Financial Cost-Benefit Assessment of a Large Research Proposal Portfolio

This paper proposes a practical, relatively simple approach to the benefit evaluation of research proposals in a large research portfolio, which may include hundreds of relatively small-scale proposals (for example, agricultural research funds). The approach is based on the measurement of quot;elasticity of technological improvementquot; (ETI). This measurement is similar to quot;elasticity of demandquot;, widely used in economics. ETI enables to compare the economic benefits from different proposals and it can be used in large diversified research proposal portfolios. It fits into the prevailing peer review evaluation and selection process. ETI enables the peer review team to add the comparative economic evaluation to the overall evaluation of research proposals in a do-it-yourself manner as an additional consideration, to improve the quality of their decision-making. This approach is useful especially in countries that have very limited research funds, requiring them to choose among proposals that may all be economically profitable and make the most efficient allocation of their limited research funds. The method is demonstrated on the avocado branch