Trends and patterns in research and development expenditures in the United States.
This paper is a review of recent trends in United States expenditures on research and development (R&D). Real expenditures by both the government and the private sector increased rapidly between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s, and have since leveled off. This is true of both overall expenditures and expenditures on basic research, as well as funding of academic research. Preliminary estimates indicate that about $170 billion was spent on R&D in the United States in 1995, with approximately 60% of that funding coming from the private sector and about 35% from the federal government. In comparison to other countries, we have historically spent more on R&D relative to our economy than other advanced economies, but this advantage appears to be disappearing. If defense-related R&D is excluded, our expenditures relative to the size of the economy are considerably smaller than those of other similar economies.
Jaffe
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Department of Economics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254-9110, USA.
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005060:Europe; D005582:Foundations; D006077:Government Agencies; D007221:Industry; D007564:Japan; D012106:Research / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000639:trends*; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities