NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences NSF 99-328 February 17, 1999 |
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by Alan I.
Rapoport |
How Has the Field Mix of Federal
Research Funding Changed Over the Past Three Decades?
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Between 1970 and 1997, the life sciences' share of Federal research rose by about 14 percentage points, while engineering's share fell 12 percentage points.
In constant dollars, DoD research obligations in 1997 were only 76 percent of those in 1970.
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Many Federal agencies support science and engineering (S&E) research[1] to further their missions. Changes in the budgets for these agencies often raise concern in the scientific community about potential effects on Federal research support to particular S&E fields and the balance among disciplines. For example, a declining Department of Defense budget in the post-Cold War period led to fears of declining support for engineering and the physical sciences; recent increases in the budgets of the National Institutes of Health have stirred anxiety about funding imbalances between the life sciences and other fields. An earlier Issue Brief examined changes in R&D field emphasis in the academic sector.[2] This Issue Brief examines how the overall research emphasis of the Federal Government, regardless of performer type, has changed between 1970 and 1997. It describes shifts in S&E field shares of total Federal research obligations and changes in the contributions of key funding agencies to the Federal research effort. Changes in S&E Field Shares in Federal Research
The life sciences' share of Federal research increased significantly, by almost 14 percentage points, between 1970 and 1997, rising from 29.4 to 43.1 percent of total Federal research. The combined share for the mathematical and computer sciences[4] also increased during this period by about 4 percentage points, rising from 1.9 to 5.7 percent of total Federal research (figure 1). The share of both of these broad field groups has risen in each of the three decades. In the life sciences, shares for the medical and biological sciences[5] increased, while that of the agricultural sciences declined.[6] The medical sciences' share rose in each of the three decades, while the biological sciences' share increased in the 1980s but declined slightly thereafter. The increase for the mathematical and computer sciences combination is due to a rise in the computer sciences' share; the mathematical sciences' share essentially remained stable (table 1). The increase of approximately 18 percentage points in these two broad fields was balanced by decreased shares for other fields. There was a steep decrease in the share of engineering research, which lost 12.0 percentage points between 1970 and 1997. Losses were also registered for the physical sciences (-5.2 percentage points) and social sciences (-2.0 percentage points). The patterns of these declines differed slightly. Most of engineering's share decline had occurred by the end of the 1980s, while the physical sciences experienced the bulk of theirs during the 1990s. The largest drop in the social sciences' share occurred during the 1980s. In the social sciences, the Federal research shares for each of its component fields-anthropology, economics, sociology, and political science-declined over the entire period, with the largest declines in economics and sociology. Similarly, each of the three component physical sciences fields-physics, chemistry, and astronomy-had a declining share between 1970 and 1997; physics experienced the largest drop. All engineering fields except metallurgy and materials had declining shares, with the largest losses in electrical and mechanical engineering (table 1). Federal Research Dollars and Share Changes[7] Key Funding Agencies in Federal Research However, measured by their share of Federal S&E research obligations, there has been a major shift in the role of some of these agencies between 1970 and 1997 (figure 2). Three of these agencies experienced increased shares-HHS by 17 percentage points, DOE by 3, and NSF by 2. The other three saw decreases in their shares-DoD by 14 percentage points, NASA by 7, and USDA by 1. These share changes reflect the differential growth in these agencies' research funding over the period. While overall Federal research funding grew about six-fold (in current dollars), DoD funding rose by a factor of three, as HHS funding grew more than thirteen-fold. DoD was the only one among these six agencies whose research funding was lower (in constant dollars) in FY 1997 than it had been in FY 1970. These agencies' differential growth and resulting agency share changes over the past three decades have in turn substantially contributed to the observed field share changes. This is particularly true for the shift away from engineering towards the life sciences. In both 1970 and 1997, just over half of DoD's research funding supported engineering; in 1970, the agency provided 44 percent of total Federal engineering research funds, and in 1997, 34 percent. In both years, about 85 percent of HHS's research budget supported the life sciences; the agency provided about 60 percent of total research funding for the life sciences in 1970 and just over 75 percent by 1997. This Issue Brief was prepared by:
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Footnotes
[1] This analysis deals with Federal funds that support basic and applied research, but not development.
[2] See "How Has the Field Mix of Academic R&D Changed?" National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Studies, NSF 99-309.
[3] In a number of surveys and reports the designation earth, atmospheric, and oceanographic sciences is used in lieu of environmental sciences.
[4] These two fields were reported together through 1975.
[5] The biological sciences include environmental biology.
[6] Share changes for the biological and agricultural sciences are calculated from 1978, the first year they were separately reported.
[7] Data on Federal funds for research by science and engineering field and by agency are available on the NSF's Division of Science Resources Studies' (SRS) web site http://www.nsf. gov/statistics/ under Publications & Data, Statistical Reports on R&D Funding and Performance. Data from 1970-96 are available in Federal Funds Survey, Detailed Historical Tables, Fiscal Years 1951-98; final 1997 data for major S&E fields are available in Federal Funds for R&D, Fiscal Years 1997, 1998, and 1999 [Early Release Tables] and final 1997 data for components are from unpublished tabulations.
[8] Current dollars were adjusted for inflation by using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fiscal year price deflator (FY 1992=100). Fiscal year deflators are from the Office of Management and Budget, FY 1999 Budget of the United States Government, Historical Tables, Table 10.1, pp. 169-70.
[9] The National Institutes of Health (NIH) comprised almost 94 percent of the HHS research budget in 1997.