Federico Castillo

Public-Private Sector Linkages in Research and Development: The Case of U.S. Agriculture

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 gave U.S. universities and researchers property rights to innovations funded by federal money.This act led many universities to create Offices of Technology Transfer (OTTs) to assess innovations.The role of the OTT in the development of agricultural biotechnologies is evaluated.The five stages of the innovation process (research, development, product testing, production, and marketing) are discussed and evaluated in agricultural terms. The OTTs process of bringing innovations to the private sector (by soliciting and evaluating innovations, selling intellectual property rights, and monitoring and enforcing contracts) is explained, discussing this process in the agricultural field and discussing new roles of OTTs.Alternative institutional setups for conducting the innovation process are presented. Although OTTs provide a new link between universities and the commercial sector, traditional links, such as extension offices, should also be maintained, and the value of public research not leading to patents or royalties should not be overlooked. (AKP)

The Deadly Combination of Heat and Humidity in India and Pakistan in Summer 2015

Author(s): Wehner, M; Stone, D; Krishnan, H; Achutarao, K; Castillo, F | Abstract:

Economic and Health Consequences of Pesticide Use in Developing Country Agriculture: Discussion

The three papers by Antle and Capalbo; Crissman and Cole; and Pingali, Marquez, and Palis are very important papers which make a contribution beyond the pesticide economics literature. They represent what we believe is the best type of microeconomic work-that which starts with collection of primary data to address an important policy issue and then uses an advanced economic tool to analyze the data. Obviously, economic theory is crucial in the design of the study and the derivation of conclusions, but the data and its implications are the main focus of the analysis. As we will argue later, the data reveal some very important insights. These are among the first studies of pesticide-related tradeoffs between productivity and health to collect actual data on behavior. Obvi-

Population and climate change: who will the grand convergence leave behind?

Author(s): Campbell, Martha M; Casterline, John; Castillo, Federico; Graves, Alisha; Hall, Thomas L; May, John F; Perlman, Daniel; Potts, Malcolm; Speidel, J Joseph; Walsh, Julia; Wehner, Michael F; Zulu, Eliya Msiyaphazi

Agriculture and the environment.

The agricultural sector in Bulgaria faces the challenge of cleaning up contaminated water, land, and air resources left behind by the old regime. Improved environmental quality can provide Bulgaria with enhanced opportunities for the development of tourism and recreation and the export of agricultural products. Environmental objectives can be attained through a well-functioning legal system, the implementation of financial incentives (taxes on pollution and subsidies for conservation), and the establishment of appropriate agencies to address environmental issues through research and extension activities. Greater concern for environmental amenities and appropriate pricing of natural resources will lead to a smaller but cleaner and more efficient agricultural sector and a future in which environmental quality and economic prosperity can coexist.