Science Resources Studies Division | |
DATA BRIEF |
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
1995 U.S. Industrial R&D Rises, NSF Survey Statistics Expanded to Emphasize Role of Nonmanufacturing Industries |
by Raymond M. Wolfe
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The National Science Foundation's (NSFs) Survey of Industrial Development for 1995 shows that firms spent $132.1 billion on research and development (R&D)
in the United States, more than 10 percent above the amount spent during 1994. Company funding continued to increase as it has each year since 1953, from $97.1 billion to $108.7 billion. Federal funding of industry-performed R&D increased from
$22.5 billion to $23.5 billion, reversing a downward trend that began in 1988. After adjustment for inflation, the direction of these changes is the same: total R&D rose 8 percent, company-funded R&D rose 9 percent, and federally funded R&D rose 2
percent. Summary statistics from the 1995 survey are presented and compared with statistics from the 1994 survey in Table 1. The remainder of this data brief highlights the expanded amount of information about nonmanufacturing
industries now available from the NSF survey and focuses on R&D performed by companies in these industries.
Expanded Coverage of Nonmanufacturing Firms
Nonmanufacturing R&D Trends
Sources of Support for Nonmanufacturing R&D Among the largest nonmanufacturing performers of company-funded R&D were computer-related service firms, which spent $8.5 billion; trade industries, which spent $7.5 billion; telephone communications firms, which spent $4.7 billion; and research, development, and testing labs; which spent $2.8 billion. Company-funded R&D performed by these and the other industries and industry groups recently added to the survey tabulations are highlighted in Table 2. |
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Chief among the nonmanufacturing industries supported by Federal R&D dollars, largely through purchases of software services, were engineering and management service industries. This group included
engineering, architectural, and surveying firms, and research, development, and testing labs. As a group, firms in the engineering and management service industries spent $3.7 billion of the total $4.6 billion provided by the Federal Government to
companies in the nonmanufacturing industries for R&D.
Service industries As the statistics in Table 2 indicate, companies in the service classifications funded 76 percent of their own R&D. Company-funded R&D totaled $13.6 billion, while Federal funding accounted for the remaining 24 percent, or $4.3 billion, of R&D performed during 1995. Among the newly tabulated service industries, companies that provided computer and data processing services funded 94 percent of the R&D they performed, and firms that provided engineering, architectural, and surveying services funded 36 percent.
Notes on Future Surveys
Statistical Reports This Data Brief was prepared by:
Raymond M. Wolfe For free copies of SRS Data Briefs, write to the above address, call 301-947-2722, or send e-mail to pubs@nsf.gov. |