Carl Pray is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. 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.
