Annual Review of Resource Economics - Volume 7, 2015

The private sector has assumed a larger role in developing improved technology for food and agriculture, with private agricultural R&D spending growing faster than public agricultural R&D spending over the past several decades. Major drivers have been new commercial opportunities afforded by scientific advances and liberalization of agricultural input markets. Along with rising private R&D investment, agricultural input industries have undergone significant structural changes. These developments have been pronounced in both high-income and developing countries. The rising importance of private R&D, however, does not imply a diminished role of the public sector, as most empirical evidence points to complementarities between public and private agricultural R&D.

We assess the literature on public and private quality standards and their impact in food markets, international trade, and global supply chains. We focus on their effects on welfare, trade, industrial organization, and labor markets and with special attention to the North-South context. We also attempt to better characterize when these measures constitute protectionism, a complicated task. We look at studies investigating public and private standards and across various quantitative approaches and countries. These standards have complex effects. The evidence is mixed regarding standards as catalyst for or as impediment against trade and development, reflecting the complexity of these effects and their specificity to industries and countries. The analysis of standard-like nontariff measures and their impacts does not lead to sweeping prescriptions for policy reforms. We identify more modest prescriptions and make some recommendations for fruitful research directions.

Social networks function as an important safety net in developing countries, which often lack formal financial instruments. Such networks are also an important source of information in developing countries with relatively low access to the Internet and literacy rates. We review the empirical literature that uses explicit social network data collected in developing countries. We focus on social networks as conduits for both monetary transfers and information. We also briefly discuss the network-formation literature and comment on data collection strategies, mentioning some areas we believe to be especially ripe for future study.

Africa has a severe shortage of infrastructure. Addressing this shortage involves both correcting the problems of poor maintenance and underinvestment that have caused it and raising the finance for a phase of remedial investment. We review evidence that substantiates the shortage, in terms of both stocks and the potential for high rates of return. We then turn to the range of options for attracting remedial finance, focusing in particular on how they relate to the region’s endowment of natural resources. Governments will need to build the regulatory and technical capacities to tap into this opportunity for leveraged private capital flows by reducing the risks associated with large, capital-intensive projects. Furthermore, governments must build the authority necessary to manage both the challenges associated with deferred public consumption and the time consistency needed to support long-term ventures.