Figure 3-5 



Federal Obligations for Basic Research, by Agency, 1960-74 

 Current dollars 



(Millions ol Dollars) 



1960 



•64 



■66 



■68 



■74 

 (est.) 



Constant 1967 dollars' 



unions of Dollars 



' GNP implicit price deflators used to convert current dollars to constant 1967 dollars 



-Ttie large amounts reported by NASA for tiasic researcti are due to the substantial cost of support equipment sucti as spacecraft 

 and launcti veliicles peculiar to space exploration, and tlie statistical proration ol costs for tracking and data acquisition. 



SOURCE National Science Foundation. 



percent of all USDA's basic research 

 obligations, as a part of the agency's R&D 

 aimed at improving animal and plant produc- 

 tivity and enhancing the use of natural 

 resources related to agriculture. 



The proportion of total Federal obligations for 

 basic research provided by each of these agencies 

 shifted considerably in the period 1960-74. The 

 Department of Defense provided 28 percent of 



the total basic research obligations in 1960, 

 compared to 10 percent in 1974. This decline 

 may be due, in part, to the "Mansfield amend- 

 ment" which restricted the DOD to the funding 

 of research related directly to its mission. The 

 proportion supplied by NASA declined from a 

 high of 33 percent in 1964 to 29 percent in 1974, 

 reflecting both changes in the mission of this 

 agency and the faster growth of basic research 

 obligations in some other agencies. 



57 



