ABSTRACT
Economists have made significant progress in understanding the contributions to social welfare made possible by new knowledge generated by many types of research. Knowledge produced by social science research is not embodied in tangible and readily measured items such as new inputs or products. Despite the conceptual and operational challenges, there is a need to evaluate the contributions of social science research, including forest resource economics and policy research. Assessment of priority topics for forest economics research has undoubtedly contributed to research planning and priority setting, as well as to improving the quality and effectiveness of the research. A logical starting point for a discussion of the economic evaluation of research is the extensive agricultural literature relating to the topic. Agricultural research evaluation has strongly influenced the evaluation of research in other fields. The nature of the outputs of social science research is a vexatious problem for research evaluation.
