A^^K'i'Hale Analysis of Research and Product ivily in Agricidli/re 87 



Aggregate Productivity Analysis: Implications 



Chapters 4 and 5 are organized in terms of increasing level of ag- 

 gregation. The wheat and maize study incorporated only the land 

 input. The aggregate analysis of this chapter enables the incor- 

 poration of more complete input data at the cost of reduced 

 sophistication in using research information. 



In both cases, the data support the proposition that investment 

 in technological discovery activity is required for the realization 

 of significant increases in agricultural productivity. The estimated 

 marginal contributions of research investment have consistently 

 shown returns to investment in order of magnitude higher than 

 returns realized on more conventional investments designed to 

 produce economic growth. This is particularly borne out by the 

 study of change in productivity in Indian agriculture reported in 

 the next chapter. 



