AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF COTTON AND PEANUT RESEARCH IN SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

produced a high return to society. This result does not conflict the results of other similar studies
as those mentioned in the literature review.

The positive social benefits and internal rate of return indicate that investment in cotton and
peanuts in the southeastern region of the United States has been a sound investment. These
results indicate that society would benefit from increased investment in these commodities in the
future. These results do not guarantee that similar investment in the future will yield the same
results. They may indicate that research investment is a good thing, but do not indicate whether
or not money invested in cotton and peanuts was efficiently allocated. The theoretical
framework utilized in this study would be a useful tool for administrators in similar studies on
public investment in other agricultural commodities to determine whether sufficient progress is
made in the area. This may warrant this type of evaluation study one more regular basis.

Since the commodities in this study compete for the same funds, the result from the
estimated supply functions is useful for comparing the allocation decisions between the two
commodities. A suggestion for further research would be to evaluate allocative efficiency
between these two commodities using a marginal rate of return. Allocative efficiency could also
be useful in monitoring the role of private research in biotechnology and other agricultural
research areas. In particular, this model could be used to compare the efficiency of private and
public investment in specific commodities.

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