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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to assess the methodologies used in planning the development of private-sector agricultural research institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since 1984, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has supported new private-sector research institutions in Honduras, Ecuador, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic and is now considering development of a new private-sector institution in El Salvador. Other similar institutions, particularly in Colombia and Chile, have existed for longer periods. This paper examines their development as part of a gradual institutional shift in agricultural research from direct governmental control towards greater autonomy. The shifts in institutional form reflect the desire to solve certain specific constraints to effective research programs: stability and levels of funding, professionalism, relevance of research, constituency support, and others. The potential ability of private-sector research institutions to actually overcome such constraints and to provide needed sustainable research, relative to other institutions, are analyzed.