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Why agricultural R&D is helping less where it's needed most
Today we’re talking about food, specifically agricultural R&D. The world’s population has grown from about 2 billion to 8 billion people in the last century. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. But the silver lining was that technology was advancing—particularly during the so-called “Green Revolution” from the 1940s to the 1980s when new high-yield grain varieties, fertilizers, and pesticides dramatically increased harvests in developing nations like Mexico and India. But during that time, economists were also developing an economic theory called the “inappropriate technology hypothesis.” It says that technological innovations developed for wealthy countries are specifically designed for conditions and environments in those countries, meaning they were often unproductive or inapplicable in developing countries. Fast-forward to today, when the effects of climate change—rising heat, drought, and extreme weather events—are already affecting farmers around the world, meaning we’ll need even more technological breakthroughs to mitigate them. But will those technologies help where they are needed most? In their research, economists Jacob Moscona of MIT and Karthik Sastry of Princeton have taken a new look at the intersection of the Inappropriate Technology Hypothesis—they like to call it “technological mismatch”—and agricultural research and development. They say there is a systematic rich-world bias in ag R&D that explains a large share of global disparities in both the adoption of new technology and agricultural productivity. They’re here today to discuss where that bias comes from, it’s effects, and some potential responses.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
"Inappropriate Technology: Evidence from Global Agriculture"
About our Guests:
Jacob Moscona is the 3M Career Development Assistant Professor of Economics at MIT. His research explores broad questions in economic development, with a focus on the role of innovation, the environment, and political economy. His work investigates the forces that drive the rate and direction of technological progress, as well as how new technologies shape global productivity differences and adaptation to major threats like climate change. He also studies the political economy of economic development, with a focus on how variation in social organization and institutions affects patterns of conflict and cooperation. Moscona joined MIT's Economics Department as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. He received his PhD from MIT in 2021 and was a Prize Fellow in Economics, History, and Politics at Harvard from 2021-2024.
Karthik Sastry is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, in the Department of Economics and the School for Public and International Affairs. Sastry studies macroeconomics, with broad interests that also intersect with economic theory, the economics of innovation, and environmental economics. Two specific themes in his work are understanding the role of bounded rationality and social dynamics in business-cycle fluctuations and modeling how societies adapt to climate change through policy changes and technological innovation. Sastry received an AB in Economics from Princeton in 2016 and a PhD in Economics from MIT in 2022. Heis a Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research in the Economic Fluctuations and Growth program and the Environment and Energy Economics program.
Economics for Inclusive Prosperity (EfIP) is a network of academic economists from Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and other leading universities who are committed to an inclusive economy and society. EfIP members are working to transform their field around a new vision of prosperity—a vision that includes traditional economic metrics, but also expanded measures of wellbeing including access to health, to democratic participation, and to a livable planet. They’re also highlighting the important changes in economics that are already underway.
Host Ralph Ranalli is a longtime Harvard podcaster, an entrepreneur, and former journalist. He previously hosted “HKS PolicyCast,” the award-winning flagship podcast of the Harvard Kennedy School. He holds a BA in political science from UCLA and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University.
The Economics for Inclusive Prosperity Podcast is recorded at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The co-directors of Economics for Inclusive Prosperity are Dani Rodrik, Stefanie Stantcheva, Suresh Naidu, Atif Mian, and Ilyana Kuziemko. The show is co-produced by Ralph Ranalli and Tony Ditta, with social media management by Violet Van Buckman.
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By Economics for Inclusive ProsperityToday we’re talking about food, specifically agricultural R&D. The world’s population has grown from about 2 billion to 8 billion people in the last century. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. But the silver lining was that technology was advancing—particularly during the so-called “Green Revolution” from the 1940s to the 1980s when new high-yield grain varieties, fertilizers, and pesticides dramatically increased harvests in developing nations like Mexico and India. But during that time, economists were also developing an economic theory called the “inappropriate technology hypothesis.” It says that technological innovations developed for wealthy countries are specifically designed for conditions and environments in those countries, meaning they were often unproductive or inapplicable in developing countries. Fast-forward to today, when the effects of climate change—rising heat, drought, and extreme weather events—are already affecting farmers around the world, meaning we’ll need even more technological breakthroughs to mitigate them. But will those technologies help where they are needed most? In their research, economists Jacob Moscona of MIT and Karthik Sastry of Princeton have taken a new look at the intersection of the Inappropriate Technology Hypothesis—they like to call it “technological mismatch”—and agricultural research and development. They say there is a systematic rich-world bias in ag R&D that explains a large share of global disparities in both the adoption of new technology and agricultural productivity. They’re here today to discuss where that bias comes from, it’s effects, and some potential responses.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
"Inappropriate Technology: Evidence from Global Agriculture"
About our Guests:
Jacob Moscona is the 3M Career Development Assistant Professor of Economics at MIT. His research explores broad questions in economic development, with a focus on the role of innovation, the environment, and political economy. His work investigates the forces that drive the rate and direction of technological progress, as well as how new technologies shape global productivity differences and adaptation to major threats like climate change. He also studies the political economy of economic development, with a focus on how variation in social organization and institutions affects patterns of conflict and cooperation. Moscona joined MIT's Economics Department as an Assistant Professor in July 2024. He received his PhD from MIT in 2021 and was a Prize Fellow in Economics, History, and Politics at Harvard from 2021-2024.
Karthik Sastry is an Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, in the Department of Economics and the School for Public and International Affairs. Sastry studies macroeconomics, with broad interests that also intersect with economic theory, the economics of innovation, and environmental economics. Two specific themes in his work are understanding the role of bounded rationality and social dynamics in business-cycle fluctuations and modeling how societies adapt to climate change through policy changes and technological innovation. Sastry received an AB in Economics from Princeton in 2016 and a PhD in Economics from MIT in 2022. Heis a Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research in the Economic Fluctuations and Growth program and the Environment and Energy Economics program.
Economics for Inclusive Prosperity (EfIP) is a network of academic economists from Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and other leading universities who are committed to an inclusive economy and society. EfIP members are working to transform their field around a new vision of prosperity—a vision that includes traditional economic metrics, but also expanded measures of wellbeing including access to health, to democratic participation, and to a livable planet. They’re also highlighting the important changes in economics that are already underway.
Host Ralph Ranalli is a longtime Harvard podcaster, an entrepreneur, and former journalist. He previously hosted “HKS PolicyCast,” the award-winning flagship podcast of the Harvard Kennedy School. He holds a BA in political science from UCLA and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University.
The Economics for Inclusive Prosperity Podcast is recorded at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The co-directors of Economics for Inclusive Prosperity are Dani Rodrik, Stefanie Stantcheva, Suresh Naidu, Atif Mian, and Ilyana Kuziemko. The show is co-produced by Ralph Ranalli and Tony Ditta, with social media management by Violet Van Buckman.