Author
Fang, Di
In this study, we investigate the mental well-being of agricultural economics PhD students at 33 universities in the United States. Analysis of our survey data reveals that about 40% of respondents reported experiencing symptoms indicative of depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation. Although most participants recognized the meaningfulness of their work, achieving a satisfactory work-life balance emerged as a prominent concern. Notably, stress levels were consistent across departments irrespective of their rankings. Furthermore, our examination uncovers some racial disparities: Hispanic and White students exhibited a higher prevalence of mental health issues but were more inclined to seek treatment, while Asian and Black students reported lower prevalence but faced challenges accessing support services.
We develop a theoretical model of optimal licensing schemes for quality-improving innovations. We consider an oligopolistic market where two downstream firms compete in price and the upstream innovator holds a technology that may create differentiation between the products. Our results show that non-exclusive licensing performs better than exclusive licensing under both fixed fees and royalties and that the preferred contract consists of fixed fees only. We also find that the innovator’s license revenue depends on the magnitude of the innovation so there is a greater reward to the innovator’s institution if the innovation is large.