appendix a 



technical notes 



Differences in definitions, con- 

 cepts, and data collection and re- 

 porting practices make precise cross- 

 country comparisons difficult. How- 

 ever, much has been done by the 

 Organisation for Economic Co-op- 

 eration and Development (OECD) 

 to establish uniform standards and 

 definitions for scientific and tech- 

 nical activity. The Japanese and U.S. 

 data presented here generally reflect 

 OECD definitions and guidelines.' 

 Differences between the U.S. and 

 Japanese data are discussed in more 

 detail below, together with addi- 

 tional technical information. 



sources of science 

 resources data 



Japanese science resources data are 

 principally available from two an- 

 nual publications. The Report on the 

 Survey of Research and Developtnent 

 (issued by the Statistics Bureau of 



'See Organisahon for Economic Co-operation and 

 Developn:ient, The Measurement of Scientific and Tech- 

 nical Activities (Paris, France, 1981), commonly called 

 the Frascatl Manual. 



the Management and Coordination 

 Agency) and Indicators of Science and 

 Technology (issued by the Science and 

 Technology Agency). Data in the 

 Survey are obtained from annual 

 questionnaires sent to the perform- 

 ers of research and development 

 (R&D) in Japan — industry, insti- 

 tutes of higher education, and gov- 

 ernment and nonprofit research 

 institutes. The data in the Indicators 

 are primarily a subset of the Survey 

 data: the Indicators presents much of 

 the same types of data but only for 

 the natural sciences and engineer- 

 ing. However, the Indicators also 

 presents additional information not 

 available in the Survey, such as stu- 

 dent enrollment and degree data, the 

 technological balance of payments, 

 and government budget data. 



Science resources data for the 

 United States are derived principally 

 from reports and unpublished data 

 of the U.S. National Science Foun- 

 dation's Division of Science Re- 

 sources Studies. A list of available 

 data and publications may be ob- 

 tained from the Office of the Divi- 

 sion Director, Division of Science 

 Resources Studies, National Science 

 Foundation, 1800 G Street, N.W., 

 Washington, D.C. 20550. 



Additional data sources are as 

 noted in the report text, tables, and 

 charts, and include the OECD, var- 

 ious U.S. Government agencies, and 

 scholarly works. 



expenditure data 



Expenditure data for both Japan 

 and the United States are performer- 

 based; that is, financial data on the 

 source of R&D funds and the amount 

 of expenditures are obtained from 

 surveys sent to the R&D perform- 

 ers. In general, there are two major 

 methods of calculating R&D 

 expenditures — on a current operat- 

 ing cost basis and on a disbursement 

 basis. The United States uses the 

 current operating cost method, which 

 includes the costs of labor, materi- 

 als, and the depreciation of tangible 

 fixed assets. Capital expenditures are 

 excluded by definition as a current 

 operating cost. 



An alternative method that Japan 

 and many European countries use 

 for calculating R&D expenditures is 

 on a disbursement basis, which also 

 includes the costs of labor and ma- 

 terials, but substitutes capital 

 expenditures (on facilities and 



45 



