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Higher Education Costs and the Production ofExtension

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2005

David N. Laband  and
Bernard F. Lentz
David N. Laband
Affiliation:
Forest Policy Center, School of Forestry & Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
Bernard F. Lentz
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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Abstract

Do cost considerations justify the current structure of production ofextension services in which one or more providers exists in virtually all ofthe contiguous U.S. states? Provision of extension services has sizable costimplications for the host institutions. Yet, to our knowledge, there hasbeen virtually no analysis of the impact of extension on higher educationcosts. Using academic year 1995–1996 data, we estimate a multiproduct costfunction for 1,445 public institutions of higher education in the UnitedStates, including 65 that provide extension services. We find evidence ofsignificant economies of scale with respect to the provision of extensionservices but no evidence of significant economies of scope between theprovision of extension and the production of research, undergraduateeducation, or graduate education.

Keywords

costsextension serviceshigher educationmultiproduct cost functionI22L89

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , April 2005 , pp. 229 - 236
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2005

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