What's Economics Worth? : Valuing Policy Research

by Pardey, Philip G.; Smith, Vincent H.

• ISBN13: 9780801879418
• ISBN10: 0801879418
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-06-21
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

In an era of limited research resources and limitless research needs, demonstrating the worth of any research discipline to policymakers and administrators is a prerequisite for obtaining future funding and making an impact in policy matters. Economists have worked diligently in developing both quantitative and qualitative indicators of the value of science and technology R & D. At the same time, they have paid little or no attention to valuing their own work. In What's Economics Worth? Valuing Policy Research, several expert economists take an important first step towards redressing this imbalance. Anyone who wants to understand what economists do and how to think about valuing their work will find this book intriguing and worthwhile.Contributors: Jeffrey Alwang, Connie Chan-Kang, John Freebairn, Bruce Gardner, Arnold Harberger, Amir Heiman, Anne Krueger, Paul Krugman, Bob Lindner, George Norton, Philip G. Pardey, James Ryan, Vincent H. Smith, C. Peter Timmer, and David Zilberman

Author Biography

Vincent H. Smith is a professor in the department of agricultural economics and economics at Montana State University and codirector of the Agricultural Marketing Policy Center at Montana State University. Philip G. Pardey is a professor of science and technology policy in the department of applied economics at the University of Minnesota. Formerly, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Table of Contents

Overview	p. 3
The economics research industry	p. 12
Assessing the benefits of economics research : what are the problems?	p. 69
The relevance of economists	p. 87
The benefits of social science research	p. 108
Adding value through policy-oriented research : reflections of a scholar-practitioner	p. 129
Second thoughts on a framework for evaluating agricultural economics research	p. 153
Trade policy and economic development : how we learn	p. 174
Returns to policy-related social science research in agriculture	p. 201
Measuring the benefits of policy-oriented social science research : evidence from two developing countries	p. 225
Rice trade policies in Vietnam : the impact of policy-oriented economics research	p. 252
The value of economics research	p. 275
What's economics worth? A summing up	p. 300
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