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IP: Industry Trends in Research Support and Links to Public Research
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 13:29:51 -0500
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsb9899/nsb9899.htm Industry Trends in Research Support and Links to Public Research (NSB 98-99) Industry Trends in Research Support and Links to Public Research The National Science Board (NSB) is charged with monitoring the health of the nation's science and engineering enterprise and advising the President and Congress on policy matters pertaining to research and education in the sciences and engineering. The release of the new edition of our biennial report, Science & Engineering Indicators--1998 (S&EI98),1 provides the Board with an opportunity to note and comment on selected findings and trends of particular interest in the development of national policy. Two important findings documented in S&EI98 involve the capability of U.S. industry to develop new products and processes. The first is embodied in dual funding trends: namely, a restoration of funding by U.S. industry of its own research --representing a turnaround from the cutbacks that began in the late 1980s--in tandem with its continued--albeit relatively small--investment in basic and applied research at universities and colleges. The second finding, based on a relatively new analytic technique, suggests that patents granted in the U.S. patent system are increasingly linked to public research.2 Specifically, inventors in five industrial nations, including the United States, are increasingly taking advantage of the results of research performed in universities, government laboratories, medical schools, and nonprofit organizations. This is especially true in areas where the rate of new startup firms is high, such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. When American inventors cite research journal articles, the cited articles are overwhelmingly those produced by U.S. authors. Clearly, both industrial investment in research and industrial use of publicly funded research have been growing. Thus, investments by industry and government continue to complement each other, with public investment--primarily in basic research--often serving as a precursor to private sector investment in many areas of applied research and development. Federal investment thereby continues to provide a critical seedbed for economic growth and for overall growth in job opportunities. Highlights of these findings and for related indicators are presented below, followed by the Board's comments. Technical details are appended. Highlights Funding Indicators In constant-dollar terms, the amount invested by U.S. industry in its own basic research efforts dropped by a fifth from 1991 through 1995, 3 decreasing from $6.3 billion to about $5 billion. This investment began to rise in 1996 and is projected to continue rising by 1997 to an estimated $6.5 billion in current dollars, or $5.7 billion in constant dollars. Similarly, industry financing of its own applied research decreased by about 16 percent from 1991 through 1994, but is projected to be up by 37 percent in real terms by 1997 to an estimated $28.6 billion in current dollars. U.S. industry's investment in basic research performed at U.S. universities and colleges increased in real terms by 20 percent from 1991 to 1997, rising to a total of $1.05 billion in 1997 dollars. This represents about 6.5 percent of all academic basic research expenditures.
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