122 



These 31 companies in tlie aggregate reported for 

 1937, resourcli and development expenditures of 

 $38,400,969 and pereonnel of 10,113. The indicated 

 average e.\i)eiiditnre per worivcr ^vus $3,797. There 

 was considerable variation among companies in the 

 average expenditure per worker, wliich ranged all the 

 way from $2,000 to over $9,000. Althongli there was 

 no definite relation between size of company and aver- 

 age expenditure, there was a tendency toward larger 

 average expenditures in the cases of the smaller com- 

 panies. 



The sampling represents approximately one-fifth of 

 the total 49,564 research workers in the United States 

 in 1938, reported to the National Research Council. 

 Inasmuch as there is a preponderance of large compa- 

 nies in the sampling, the average expenditure per 

 worker is probably a little low. For all industry, it is 

 probably close to $4,000. The sampling by various 

 industries was not sufficient to warrant any conclusions 

 as to variations by industry, although such variations 

 may be considerable. 



Some corroboration of this figure is obtained in the 

 case of the steel industry for which data on both 

 research personnel and expenditures are available. The 

 American Iron and Steel Institute reported that the 

 industiy spent in 1939 a total of $10 million for research 

 and employed nearly 2,550 chemists, metallurgists, 

 physicists, and other trained scientists full time and 

 1,300 others on a part-time basis.' This would be 

 equivalent to $3,922 per full-time worker. If half of 

 the part-time workers are added, however, the average 

 expenditure would be reduced to $3,125, which seems 

 too low. The higher figure is quite close to the average 

 obtained for the 31 companies representative of all 

 industries. 



On the basis of $4,000 per worker for 49,564 reported 

 as engaged in research in 1937, the total e.xpoiiditure 

 in all industrial research laboratories would have been 

 approximately $200 million. This represented 0.29 

 percent of national income produced of $70 billion. 



On the same basis, research expenditures were esti- 

 mated for each of the major industrial groups and 

 shown as a percentage of the "Value added by manu- 

 facture" in 1937 (U. S. Census of Manufactures).^ 

 This was facilitated by the fact that the Work Projects 

 Administration National Research Project ' generally 

 followed the Census classification of industries. 



National Resources Planning Board 

 Estimated research expenditures by industrial groups 



' steel industry's 1939 research expenditures total $10,000,000. Steel Fadt, No. 35. 

 4 (August 1939). 



* U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Biennial census of 

 manufacturers— 1937. Washington, U. S. Government Printing OlTice, 1939. 



• Perazlch, G., and Field, P. M. Industrial research and changing technology. 

 Philadelphia, Pa., Work Projects Administration, National Research Project, 

 Report A'c. Af-4, 1940. 



' Classification reported by W. P. A. National Research Project, based on data 

 compiled by National Research Council has been adjusted for various groups to 

 bring total workers to 49,564, which had been reported for all industry but not 

 classified. 



' Sum of $1,513,340,000 value of rrude petroleum at wells in the United States 

 <V. S. Bureau of Mines), plus $5S7. 662.409 value added by manufacture. This 

 adjustment has been nece.-^sary to make figures comparable with number of research 

 workers which included those engaged in oil producing as well as refining operations. 



' In addition to Census of Manufactures' "Miscellaneous industries,' includes 

 railroads, steamship companies, retail and wholesale firms, and other service indus- 

 tries which reported comparatively small research employment and which are not 

 classified separately. 



Estimated research expenditures per $100 value 

 added by manufacture in 1937 were as follows for the 

 principal industrial groups: 



Agricultural implements (including tractors) $2. 90 



Rubber products 2. 73 



Chemicals and allied products 2. 38 



Electrical machinery, apparatus and supplies 1. 67 



Petroleum and its products 1. 13 



Motor vehicles, bodies, and parts — 1. 08 



Stone, clay and glass products .72 



Nonferrous metaU and their products 62 



All other machinery 60 



