This work investigates the presence and sources of economies of scope in R&D at U.S. research universities. The analysis evaluates the tradeoffs and synergies arising between traditional university research outputs (articles and doctorates) and academic patents. We propose a new measure of...

This paper investigates the determinants of efficiency and technological progress at US research universities. It relies on a unique panel data set of multiple outputs and inputs from 92 universities covering the period 1981-1998. Over that time span, US universities experienced large increases...

The implications of sunk costs for many key questions in agricultural economics have yet to be explored. This paper uses a dynamic model of investment behavior to explore how sunk costs can shape market outcomes in ways that might not match predictions of standard competitive models. Applying...

This study investigates the recent evolution of corn yield, with a special focus on the tradeoff between corn profitability and risk. The analysis relies on time-series data from Wisconsin experimental farms at the edge of the Corn Belt. An econometric model of corn yield, corn grain moisture,...

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, key court decisions, and several breakthrough process technologies, paved the way for a period of remarkable growth in the patenting of life science research by U.S. universities in the 1980s and 1990s. Using a multiple-output cost framework and panel data on 96...

Genetically modified corn seed companies have innovated continuously with the introduction of new traits and, more recently, with the creation of stacked varieties. This work develops a Bayesian model of adoption that demonstrates how uncertainty with a package technology can lead to a...