Resources for 

 Research and Development 



Indicators in this chapter deal with the financial and human resources employed in research and 

 development. These include measures of the total national R&D effort, in terms of the level and 

 sources of funding; the character of R&D (basic research, applied research, and development); and the 

 scientists and engineers engaged in these activities. The general areas of R&D and the institutions 

 involved are indicated, although these aspects are more fully treated in subsequent sections of the 

 report. 



In this chapter resources are viewed both as inputs to the scientific-technological enterprise and as 

 indicators of the level of its R&D. The use of financial resources as a surrogate for level of R&D activity 

 requires that the purchase value of the dollar be adjusted to reflect rising costs. In the absence of an 

 "R&D price index," the implicit price deflator for the gross national product is used to convert R&D 

 expenditures from current to constant dollars; this conversion, it is recognized, may not fully account 

 for the increasing costs associated with R&D. 



INDICATOR HIGHLIGHTS 



National expenditures for R&D increased 

 throughout the 1961-72 period when 

 expressed in current dollars; in terms of con- 

 stant 1958 dollars, however, expenditures 

 declined 6 percent between 1968 and 1971, 

 but increased slightly in 1972 to a level 

 equivalent to that of 1966-67. 



Total R&D expenditures as a proportion of 

 the- gross national product declined to 2.5 

 percent in 1972 from a high of 3.0 in 1964; 

 the decline was due to continued growth of 

 the GNP coupled with the reduced growth of 

 Federal R&D expenditures. 



Federal Government expenditures for R&D 

 in current dollars leveled off after 1968 and 

 declined slightly thereafter — primarily as the 

 result of reduced expenditures for space 

 R&D— before rising in 1971 and 1972; the 

 result in constant 1958 dollars was a reduc- 

 tion which continued through 1971 and 

 amounted to a 12-percent decline. 



The number of scientists and engineers 

 engaged in R&D reached almost 560,000 in 

 1969 before declining each year thereafter 

 for a total reduction of some 35,000 by 1972; 

 almost all the decline occurred in the indus- 

 trial sector. 



Most affected by the funding reductions 

 were development activities which leveled 

 off in 1970 before rising again in 1971 and 

 1972; in constant 1958 dollars, however, 

 expenditures for development declined after 

 1969 and remained at the lower level through 

 1972. 



The fraction of total Federal outlays devoted 

 to R&D fell from 12 to 7 percent between 

 1965-72. The decline was due in large part to 

 the growth of Federal expenditures in areas 

 which have small R&D outlays, such as 

 income security, and to reductions in space 

 R&D. 



Some 73 percent of all Federal R&D expendi- 

 tures in 1972 went for national defense and 

 space exploration. National defense received 

 54 percent of total Federal R&D funds in 

 1972 and space exploration received some 19 

 percent of the total. 



Federal expenditures for R&D in civilian 

 areas (areas other than national defense and 

 space) increased throughout the 1963-72 

 period, rising to 27 percent of the total in 

 1972, up from 14 percent in 1963. Areas re- 

 ceiving the bulk of funds in 1972 were health 

 (8.7 percent), advancement of science and 



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