Table 2.1— Industrial R&D expenditures by character of work, 1965-77 

 [Dollars in millions] 



Year 



Basic research 

 Current Constant' 



Applied research 

 Current Constant' 



Development 

 Current Constant' 



1972 dollars based on GNP implicit price deflator. 

 Source: Division of Science Resources Studies/ST I A/NSF 



million, and professional (and scientific) instru- 

 ments with $14 million. These seven categories 

 accounted for 88 percent of the basic research 

 performed by industry. 



Basic Research in Industry by Field 

 of Science (1975) 



Basic research performed by industry in 1975 

 was concentrated in the physical sciences and in 

 engineering. The physical sciences accounted for 

 $316 million (45 percent) out of a total of $702 

 million and engineering for $192 million (27 per- 

 cent). Basic research in the life sciences totaled 

 $129 million (18 percent). (See Table 2.2.) 



Slightly more than 4 percent of all basic re- 

 search performed by industry in 1975 was carried 

 out by firms with fewer than 1,000 employees. 

 Almost 60 percent was carried out by firms with 

 25,000 or more employees. This concentration of 

 basic research performance in the largest firms 

 holds true for the major scientific disciplines ex- 

 cept the life sciences, where the greatest concen- 

 tration occurs in firms having between 10,000 and 

 25,000 employees. 



Basic Research in Industry by Source 

 of Funds (1975) 



Only 22 percent of the funds used by industry 

 in 1975 in the conduct of basic research came 

 from Federal sources; this total of $154 million 



254 AGENCY SUPPORT OF BASIC RESEARCH IN INDUSTRY 



(see Appendix F) was in sharp contrast to the 

 $548 million in company funds expended for basic 

 research. Federal support of basic research in 

 industry was primarily in electrical equipment and 

 communication ($66 million); chemicals and allied 

 products ($53 million); aircraft and missiles ($15 

 million); and nonmanufacturing industries ($12 

 million). These four industrial categories account- 

 ed for 95 percent of total Federal funds expended 

 for basic research by industry. 



Agency Support of Basic Research in 

 Industry (1977) 



The principal Federal agency sources of sup- 

 port for basic research in industry in FY 1977 

 were the Department of Defense ($55 million), the 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

 ($84 million), the Energy Research and Develop- 

 ment Administration ($48 million), and the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation ($10 million). Totals for 

 ERDA and NSF include a combined total of $49 

 million for FFRDC's administered by industrial 

 firms (see Appendix D). 



Federal R&D obligations to FFRDC's in FY 

 1977 were estimated to be $2,509 million (see 

 Appendix G, Table C-8). Forty-two percent of 

 these funds ($1,062 million) went to industrial 

 firms for administration and operation of 

 FFRDC's; these included eight FFRDC's which 

 were funded by ERDA. 



Only $49 million (4.6 percent) of the $1,062 mil- 

 lion going to industrial firms for operation of 

 FFRDC's were obligated for basic research. This 



