Carl Pray

Biography

Carl Pray is a Distinguished Professor in the Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Department, the School for Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Pray earned his PhD is in Economic History from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.  The focus of his research is agricultural science and technology policy in China, South Asia, Africa and Latin America. Key issues of his research are: How does government research, science policy, intellectual property rights, regulations and advances in basic sciences influence the development and adoption of new agricultural technology? What are the economic and institutional impacts of new agricultural technology – especially its impact on poor farmers in Asia and Africa? He recently completed a project funded by Templeton Foundation on barriers to the spread of genetically engineered food crops in China, India, and East Africa. He is the Principle Investigator on a USAID funded project on the impact of food policy on countries in Africa and Asia. The results of his research have been published in 75 journal articles including Science, Nature, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Research Policy, and elsewhere and in 45 book chapters. Past research was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank, the US Department of Agriculture, and others

Research Interest

Science and technology policy with specific interests in biotechnology applied to agriculture, food and biofuels; Food and agricultural policy; Economic development and poverty reduction in developing countries.