clined by some 10 percent, in constant dollars, 

 for the period 1968-72, while Federal support of 

 its own basic research decreased 6 percent in the 

 same period. Also affected in this period were 

 industry and nonprofit institutions where the 

 reductions in Federal funds were 16 percent and 

 7 percent, respectively. 



Six agencies of the Government supply almost 

 95 percent of all Federal funds for basic research 

 (figure 23). About 50 percent is provided by two 

 of them — the National Aeronautics and Space 

 Administration (NASA) (31 percent) and the 



Figure 22 



Federal Expenditures for Basic Research, 



by Performer, 1960-72 



(Millions ot Dollars) 



1,400 



1,200 



1,000 



Current c 



/ 



X Constant 1958 dollars ■'' 



Federal intramural 



FFRDCs 



(a) GNP price deflator was used to convert current to constant doilars- 



(b) Administered by universities. 



SOURCE: National Science Foundation. 



Department of Health, Education, and Welfare 

 (HEW) (20 percent). The proportion of total 

 Federal funds for basic research provided by each 

 of the several agencies during the 1960-72 

 period changed significantly. Chief among these 

 were (a) the growth of NASA's share from 16 

 percent in 1960 to 31 percent in 1972; (b) the de- 

 cline of the share of the Defense Department 

 (DOD) from 28 to 11 percent— a shift which 

 occurred concurrently with the growth of 

 NASA's share; and (c) the decline in the Atomic 

 Energy Commission's (AEC) share from 17 to 11 

 percent. The 1967 decline in basic research 

 obligaticms for DOD and AEC appear to ac- 

 count largely for the reduced rate of growth in 

 overall Federal expenditures for basic research 

 which occurred in 1968. 



As noted earlier, NASA provides more funds 

 for basic research than any other Federal agency. 

 The entire activities of that agency, however, are 

 considered as either R&D or support of R&D 

 (outlays for construction of facilities). The latter 

 now comprises less than 2 percent of total out- 

 lays, and has neverexceeded 14 percent. NASA's 

 obligations for basic research (as well as for 

 applied research and development) include the 

 related costs of spacecraft, launch vehicles, 

 tracking and data acquisition, and the pro rata 

 costs of ground operations and administration. 



The estimated FY 1973 Federal obligations (in 

 current dollars) for basic research indicate an in- 

 crease of almost 9 percent over the obligation 

 level of FY 1972, which in turn represented a 12- 

 percent increase over FY 1971.' The increase in 

 basic research expenditures in FY 1973 is ex- 

 pected to be less than obligations. 



BASIC RESEARCH 

 IN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES 



Estimated expenditures fcir basic research in 

 universities and colleges are shown in figure 24 

 in both current and 1961 dollars, for selected 

 scientific fields.'' (Expenditure data for years 



' National Science Foundation, Feiiera! Fumis for Reiearch, 

 Development and other Scientific Activities. Vol. XXI NSF 72-317. In 

 press. 



> The recently developed Academic R&D Price Index (A 

 Price buiex for Dethlion of Acndemic R&D Expcniiilures. National 

 Science Foundation, NSF 72-310) was used to convert 

 current to constant dollars. The conversion, it should be 

 noted, may not fully reflect increases in indirect costs which 

 reduce the actual level of research; these costs appear to have 

 increased at an even faster rate than direct expenses, as 

 shown elsewhere in this report. 



36 



