Technological spillovers in Southern Cone agriculture

Abstract

The PROCISUR program, which was set up in several Latin American countries in 1988, is designed to facilitate the exchange ofscientific agricultural findings between member countries. This paper reports on a statistical evaluation of the program's economic impact. The model utilized specifies that the "spill-in" of technology from one country to another is enhanced by the program. Statistical estimates confirm that the program enhanced spill-in oftechnology in all three commodity programs evaluated (corn, wheat, and soybeans). The economic return to program investment, calculated from the estimates, was extraordinarily high, thus indicating that programs of this type can be quite effective.