Impacto Económico del Conocimiento Científico: El caso de la Genética Vegetal

Scientific innovation constitutes an important factor of economic growth. This paper estimates the economic impact of one scientific type of innovation: genetics applied to seed production. In Argentina, previous research on this topic has been focalized on the impact of genetic innovation on partial productivity measures - in particular land productivity. In contrast, this paper utilizes a production function framework to estimate the impact of genetic improvement, controlling for the use of other inputs. Two data bases with a panel structure are used: one integrated by a cross-section of countries (including Argentina), the other includes only data for Argentina for different kid of crops. Results show there is important economic returns associated with innovation in crop genetics.