Can Technology Transfer Help Public-Sector Researchers Do More with Less? The Case of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service

Abstract

Private funding for agricultural research now exceeds that of the public sector. Other changes have included policies to make greater use of technology transfer mechanisms, such as patents and licensing and Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs). A review of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) suggests these mechanisms did not displace more traditional instruments, such as scientific publications, nor is there any evidence that their use shifted the ARS's research priorities. Although technologies transferred through these mechanisms tended to be of greater interest to private-sector partners than the ARS's research generally, in many cases transferred technologies had public goods attributes.