Internaiional Diffusion of Technology: A Case Study oj Sugarcane Varieties 51 



length of time from significant introduction (1 percent of acreage) 

 to the peak percentage achieved by the variety in the recipient 

 country was determined.^ In addition, a measure of experiment 

 station activity for the recipient country (number of senior 

 research scientists) during the period of diffusion was developed.^ 

 Table 3.6 summarizes two simple regressions based on these 

 twenty-one observations. Regression 1 indicates that, holding 

 constant the peak adoption percentage, the number of years re- 

 quired to reach the peak percentage is less, the greater the 

 research undertaken. In elasticity terms, it indicates that, at the 

 sample mean, a 10 percent increase in research shortens the time 

 period for adoption by 3 percent. Regression 2 measures the rela- 

 tionship between the average adoption percent per year and 

 research activity per unit of output. It is shown later that the eco- 

 nomic value of speeding up adoption, even by a small percentage, 

 is significant; this requires an estimate of the relationship be- 

 tween the rate of introduction of new varieties and sugarcane 

 production. 



New Varieties and Productivity 



Yield levels by variety are reported annually for South Africa. 

 This allows a direct comparison between yields of the old varieties 

 and those of the new set of varieties. Additional data on fertilizer 

 use and on the age structure of the varieties is also available. The 

 latter information is particularly important for this type of com- 

 parison. Cane is typically "ratooned" for several years. The first 



8. The recipient countries, varieties, and dates of introduction were: 



Puerto Rico: D109 (1910), D625 (1913), GHIO (1920), SC 12/4 (1922), POJ 2878 



(1930), M336 (1944) 

 Queensland: POJ 2878 (1933), Co. 290 (1937), CP 29/1 16 (1945) 

 South Africa: Co. 281 (1934), Co. 331 (1938). Co. 310 (1936) 

 Louisiana: POJ (1925), POJ 213 (1927), Co. 281 (1930), Co. 290 (1933) 



Cuba: POI 7878 (1932), Co. 213 (1932), Co. 281 (1932) 



British Guiana: POJ 2878 (1934) 

 Jamaica: POJ 2878 (1932) 



9. The 1936 Yearbook of Agricuhure (USDA, 1936) reports the resuhs of a 

 survey of sugarcane research stations throughout the world. It was possible to 

 construct the research variable from these data and from other information 

 regarding the date of establishment of the station, and in the cases of Queensland, 

 Puerto Rico, and South Africa, data for later years. 



