Product assessment for imperceptiblecharacteristics like environmental impact, healthfulness,naturalness, and fairness is a helpful tool in productinnovation and for enhancing socially responsibleconduct.In this study we apply multiple criteria analysis forthe assessment of fresh tomatoes in...

Using an extensive household-level data set collected in Tanzania, this paper investigates the determinants of the technological adoption of rice cultivation and of paddy yield. We especially focus on the impact of credit and training on the adoption of modern technologies. Based on empirical...

This paper shows that the observed sample adoption rate does not consistently estimate the population adoption rate even if the sample is random. It is proved that instead the sample adoption rate is a consistent estimate of the population joint exposure and adoption rate, which does not inform...

This article is based on a socio-economic impact study of the introduction and adoption of tissue-culture (tc) technology in banana production in Kenya. It attempts to demonstrate that a prudent introduction and promotion of a new biotechnological innovation in farming can make a positive...

To improve the welfare of the rural poor and keep them in the countryside, the government has been spending 40% of the value of agricultural GDP on agricultural support services. But can investment make smallholder agriculture prosperous in such adverse conditions? This paper derives an answer...

The measurement of the impact of technical change has received significant attention within the economics literature. One popular method of quantifying this impact of technical change is the use of growth accounting index numbers. However, in a recent article Nelson and Pack (1999) criticise the...

During the 2004 food crisis in Niger, the weakness of the main production system, millet, to produce enough food to sustain short term crises, has been revealed. Questions arise how the Nigerian smallholder systems can be assisted by research and development policies to intensify production and...

There has been considerable debate but little empirical analysis among academics, policy makers, and civil society about whether intellectual property rights would induce private research in developing countries. China passed its plant variety protection act (PVPA) in 1997 which allowed us to do...

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the most important development challenge of the 21st century. Poverty is higher in most African countries than elsewhere in the developing world. According to the recently published Report of the Commission for Africa, economic growth in Africa is necessary for...

This paper analyzes changes in U.S. agricultural technology during 1960-1999, emphasizing the role of immigrant workers on farm mechanization. The rates and directions of biased technological change based on the induced innovation theory are compared before and after the passage of the...