CONTEXT -- A Brief History of U.S. Agriculture -- INPUTS, OUTPUTS AND PRODUCTIVITY -- Agricultural Inputs -- Agricultural Outputs -- Agricultural Productivity Patterns -- AGRICULTURAL R&D FUNDING AND POLICIES -- Research Funding and Performance -- The Federal Role -- MODELS OF R&D AND...

This chapter first discusses what economists mean by “the incidence of agricultural policy” and why we care about it. Then it reviews models of the determinants of the differential incidence of different policies among interest groups such as suppliers of factors of production, consumers,...

Innovation in agriculture differs from innovation elsewhere in the economy in several important ways. In this chapter we highlight differences arising from (a) the atomistic nature of agricultural production, (b) the spatial specificity of agricultural technologies and the implications for...