Castillo, R., M. Grazzi,and E. Tacsir.2014.“Women in Science and Technology:What Does the Literature Say?” IDB Technical Note No. IDB-TN-637, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, DC

derman and Maloney (2003)found that for many developing countries the social rate of return on R&D expendituresis very high,and that actual investment in R&D in these countries is lower thantheoptimal level.Following the methodology used by these authors, Figure 1.2 shows new estimations of the social rate of returns on R&D investment and physical capital investmentfor 2013. The rate of return on R&D for Costa Rica is 34percent, as compared to a 6percentreturn on investment in physical capital.1This means that the return onan investment in R&D is almost sixtimes higher than that from investing in physical capitalin this country. In addition, given the high rate of return for investment in R&D in Costa Rica,it is striking that the level ofR&Dinvestment made in this country (approximately 0.57percentof GDPin 2014)and the participation of the private sector in this fieldare as low as they are, as documented later in this paper.1Following Lederman and Maloney (2003), the social rate of return on R&D investment (rs) is equal to:And the social rate of return on physical capital investment (r) is equal to:Because this approach does not incorporate the process of knowledge accumulation, these estimates indicate the lower limit of the real value of social returns (Guaipatin and Schwartz, 2014).

However, Costa Rican authorities 3According to Informe Estado de la Ciencia, la Tecnología y la Innovación, 2014.19have certainly made efforts to confront a number of challenges in critical areas, as set forth in the PNCTI.First, to re-orient investment efforts in R&D financed with public resources towardinnovation activities that will have real-world applications, the following initiatives are underway

owing,among other reasons,to perverse incentives confronted by academics. That is, the current incentives do not motivate academics to work in innovation projects demanded by firms

However, the country’s public policies should be more successful in promoting supportivemarket architecture and an innovation mindset in the private sector, so that private investments in R&D may eventually overtake public sector expenditures to account for two-thirds or more of total investments in this area. In addition, R&D expenditure financed by the public sector does not necessarily make concrete contributions to innovation

18As mentioned previously, the bulk of R&D expenditures in Costa Rica are funded by the public sector (70.3percentin 20113). The government’s investment in innovation and related polices is geared to compensating for and overcoming market failures thatinhibit private sector innovation

ies is lower thantheoptimal level.Following the methodology used by these authors, Figure 1.2 shows new estimations of the social rate of returns on R&D investment and physical capital investmentfor 2013. The rate of return on R&D for Costa Rica is 34percent, as compared to a 6percentreturn on investment in physical capital.1This means that the return onan investment in R&D is almost sixtimes higher than that from investing in physical capitalin this country. In addition, given the high rate of return for investment in R&D in Costa Rica,it is striking that the level ofR&Dinvestment made in this country (approximately 0.57percentof GDPin 2014)and the participation of the private sector in this fieldare as low as they are, as documented later in this paper.1Following Lederman and Maloney (2003), the social rate of return on R&D investment (rs) is equal to:And the social rate of return on physical capital investment (r) is equal to:Because this approach does not incorporate the process of knowledge accumulation, these estimates indicate the lower limit of the real value of social returns (Guaipatin and Schwartz, 2014).

strategies that maximize the level of benefit which can be achieved for expenditure of a fixed budget (benefit maximization) or to minimize the cost of achieving a given level of benefit

Where the benefits of control do not, however, have a directly accessible monetary value (e.g., where a pest species affects conservation values), benefits and costs cannot be directly contrasted.

In the absence of simulated stoat control, the model predicted that the functional extinction of Mohua (Mohua abundance falling below 0.017/ha) was >99% probable over any given 300-year iteration.

If the acceptable probability of summer adult Mohua density falling below 0.2/ha was increased to 30%, the range of average annual costs decreased to $5.70–$7.87

Mohua persist at high relative densities in the absence of stoats, undergo regular extinction in the presence of an uncontrolled stoat population, and attain intermediate densities when stoats are controlled

The cost of controlling stoats in beech forest mosaics with intensive kill trapping was estimated as $7.55/ha/year

The cost associated with incremental increases in trigger levels for each control cue included the cost of monitoring the control cue (monitoring costs) and the actual cost of control measures (control costs)

I used simulation modeling to estimate the cost and effectiveness of stoat control triggered according to monitored changes in four control cues

All adult male and juvenile male and female Mohua survived over summer. In contrast, summer survival of adult female Mohua (Us) was related to prevailing stoat density

Hence, in my model, mouse density was used as a surrogate for more general prey availability in terms of its effect on stoat demography.

analyzed a 25-year sequence of seasonal variation

The semiperiodic nature of mast events and the flow-on effect they have for mouse and stoat density suggest a number of environmental cues that could be used to initiate stoat control when the risk to Mohua viability is hig

found that although stoat density always increased dramatically in summers where mice erupted

sporadic nature of stoat predation,

demonstrated that during a summer in which stoat numbers erupted, intensive trapping before and during the Mohua breeding season elevated both the productivity of nests and the survival of breeding females

Control generally consists of networks of kill traps distributed along lines or across grids

redation by stoats (Mustela erminea) in particular is blamed for the continuing decline of many birds

The introduction of rodents, mustelids, and domestic cats to New Zealand last century has contributed to the extinction or decline of many species of native birds

Managing the impact of pest animals involves making choices that determine how much pest control will cost and what benefit it will deliver

For some cues, however, the costs of monitoring outweighed the savings that could be achieved through reduced frequency of stoat control.

contrast the relative cost-efficiency of achieving conservation outcomes for Mohua

Mohua nests are particularly vulnerable when stoat abundance increases in response to eruptions in the density of introduced house mice

Mohua have undergone a 75% range contraction since stoats

contrast the relative efficiency of control strategies where pests affect economic resources, the same approaches have been adopted rarely in conservation settings

Success in New Zealand could trigger new initiatives in other islands with many endemic species

The project is likely to be enabled by technological or scientific innovations that lower its costs

while the scientific challenges are substantial the social and political challenges are perhaps more substantial

New Zealand scientists are working to develop new predator control technologies ranging f

There are thousands of volunteer community groups that spend their free time setting and checking wildlife traps.

Elimination of predators can produce ecological surprises.  It can lead to increases in the population of other pest species

more than a thousand times smaller than New Zealand

NZ’s tourism industry

Today, the New Zealand government estimates that invasive predators cost the country over 3 Billion NZ dollars (about 2 billion Euros) a year due

About 80%, an incredibly high proportion, of New Zealand’s birds, reptiles and freshwater fish are endangered

by 2050

government plan arises from a broader set of social and scientific initiatives

is a plan being implemented by the New Zealand government to eliminate all invasive vertebrate predators, including rats, brushtail possums, and stoats, to protect New Zealand’s rare endemic specie