In the June 25, 1999 Issue:

Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Industry Driving Growth in U.S. R&D Spending
Research and development (R&D) spending in the United States reached an estimated $220.6 billion in 1998, reflecting an inflation-adjusted increase of 5.3 percent over 1997, reports the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the recently released National Patterns of R&D Resources: 1998.

Industry, not government, is responsible for most of the growth, according to the report. Industry has provided the largest share of financial support for U.S. R&D since 1980, found Steven Payson, report author and Senior Science Resources Analyst with NSF's Division of Science Resources Studies.

Preliminary 1998 estimates show industry R&D spending increased in real terms 7.7 percent over 1997 to $143.7 billion, or 65.1 percent of the total. Federal support increased 0.8 percent to $66.6 billion, for a record low of 30.2 percent of the total.

Payson estimates that nearly all ($140.8 billion) of the industry R&D funds was devoted to R&D performed by industry itself, with the remainder directed toward academic R&D ($1.8 billion) and R&D performed by other nonprofit organizations ($1.0 billion).

Industry, including industry-administered federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), is estimated to have performed 75.1 percent of the nation's total R&D in 1998. Of this, 85 percent came from industry's own funds; federal funding accounted for the remaining 15 percent (down from an all-time high of 32 percent in 1987).

The report includes discussion of trends in national R&D support and measures the results by several indicators including ratios of R&D to gross domestic product and of R&D scientists and engineers to labor force. The report also includes a discussion of patterns in R&D performance by state, sector, and character of work. The largest section of the report consists of 35 detailed statistical tables.

New features for this year's National Patterns include more detailed information and more extensive data, including historical data on R&D expenditures by State for 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1995 (Table B-7).

The table accompanying this article presents the change from 1987 to 1995 in per capita R&D expenditures by state. States are also ranked by the growth or decline in R&D spending. Six states saw a drop in spending. Four additional states experienced single digit growth C less than the rate of inflation for the period. Nationally R&D spending grew by 22.65 percent between 1987 and 1995.

The national average per capita R&D spending in 1995 was $657.78, a figure surpassed by only 11 states. Per capita R&D expenditures in 11 states did not reach 33 percent of the national average.

The full report, National Patterns of R&D Resources: 1998, can be viewed and downloaded from the NSF website: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/nsf99335/start.htm

Change in Per Capita Total R&D Expenditures by State 1985 - 1995

State

1987
Per Capita1

1995
Per
Capita

% Change

Rank by Change

AK

167.68

271.61

38.27

13

AL

585.26

393.59

-48.70

48

AR

83.53

132.86

37.13

15

AZ

332.92

461.36

27.84

20

CA

918.77

1148.09

19.97

35

CO

522.72

696.36

24.93

28

CT

761.01

1321.55

42.42

11

DC

NA

5662.23

NA

NA

DE

NA

1598.21

NA

NA

FL

261.42

368.31

29.02

19

GA

230.40

293.87

21.60

33

HI

148.21

143.06

-3.60

45

IA

195.21

488.31

60.02

4

ID

536.44

785.50

31.71

17

IL

468.60

630.90

25.73

25

IN

401.48

546.50

26.54

22

KS

524.56

296.63

-76.84

49

KY

96.07

153.99

37.61

14

LA

73.19

97.72

25.11

27

MA

1309.65

1645.70

20.42

34

MD

1012.62

1366.65

25.91

23

ME

64.47

280.13

76.99

1

MI

861.97

1363.80

36.80

16

MN

597.25

670.46

10.92

38

MO

429.43

468.09

8.26

40

MS

91.34

116.97

21.92

32

MT

67.55

137.15

50.75

7

NC

345.48

444.17

22.22

31

ND

176.19

152.18

-15.78

47

NE

102.27

205.41

50.21

8

NH

155.68

521.47

70.15

2

NJ

876.70

1145.43

23.53

30

NM

1618.08

1957.20

17.33

37

NV

164.16

291.18

43.62

10

NY

458.09

603.73

24.12

29

OH

458.58

477.17

3.90

41

OK

166.46

161.64

-2.98

44

OR

176.19

346.57

49.16

9

PA

476.97

574.67

17.00

38

RI

559.09

906.27

38.31

12

SC

189.54

269.31

29.62

18

SD

30.62

74.42

58.86

5

TN

198.81

267.95

25.80

24

TX

328.17

448.51

26.83

21

UT

614.53

574.48

-6.97

46

VA

431.28

445.13

3.11

42

VT

523.05

529.12

1.15

43

WA

776.90

964.59

19.46

36

WI

322.10

433.34

25.67

26

WV

101.01

260.78

61.26

3

WY

75.06

181.38

58.62

6

TOTAL2

508.77

657.78

22.65

 

1. Source for population estimates was the U.S. Census Bureau. Figures for R&D Expenditures from the National Science Foundation, National Patterns of R&D Resources: 1998.

2. Delaware and the District Columbia have been omitted from the 1987 and 1995 U.S. Total Per Capita R&D Spending calculations since 1987 statistics were not available.

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EPSCoR Evaluation Released
The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources has released A Report on the Evaluation of the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. The report (NSF 99-115) was prepared under contract by the COSMOS Corporation.

Among the report's findings are:

"EPSCoR was associated with a lessening of the undue geographic concentration of R&D in the United States. Although the changes were small in absolute terms, this was a notable accomplishment in an era when research universities in non-EPSCoR states also were thriving and upgrading substantially," the report says.

The evaluation team also made a special inquiry into the research projects funded by EPSCoR from 1992 to 1996. The projects were found to have produced high numbers of subsequent publications and new R&D funding.

Among the report's conclusions are:

Copies of the report can be downloaded from the web by going to NSF's website at http://www.nsf.gov, selecting documents on-line, and then searching under the document number "NSF 99-115."

STATES/COHORT

1980

1985

1988

1990

1992

1994

CHANGE

5 STATES/1979

1.25

1.26

1.14

1.16

1.3

1.58

+.33

8 NEW STATES/1988

3.42

3.54

3.46

3.57

+.15

4 NEW STATES/ 1990

1.62

1.61

1.62

--

2 NEW STATES/1992

0.83

0.88

+.05

TOTAL EPSCoR STATES

1.25

1.26

4.56

6.33

7.21

7.65

PER STATE

0.25

0.25

0.35

0.37

0.38

0.40

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Colorado Advanced Technology Institute Abolished
The Colorado Advanced Technology Institute (CATI) has been abolished effective June 30, 1999. CATI was the state's lead organization on technology-based economic development since its creation in 1983.

Responsibility for CATI programs is being transferred to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. CATI funds appropriated for FY2000 will be split between the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) and the recently created Office of Innovation and Technology in the Governor's office, which is expected to focus on communications and information resources within state government.

CATI staff have either accepted new positions with CCHE or other organizations or retired.

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White House Office of S&T Policy Fellowship Available
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is seeking candidates for the United States Innovation Partnership (USIP) Fellow. The Fellow will serve a one-year appointment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to help foster science and technology cooperation between the states and the federal government.

Specifically, the Fellow will be a technology professional with first-hand knowledge of and experience with state government operations as well as a broad understanding of federal science and technology programs.

Among the qualifications necessary for becoming a White House Fellow are:

For more information, contact Reese Meisinger at 202/785-3756 or via e-mail at meisingerr@asme.org.

[Note: The position is filled]

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TEDCO Presidency Available
Candidates are sought for a Senior Executive position (Salary $100,000+) to provide visionary and high level leadership for the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, a new statewide technology transfer and commercialization nonprofit organization. Resume and salary requirements must be submitted no later than July 12, 1999.

The full description can be found on the SSTI website (http://www.ssti.org) following the "Job Corner" link.

[Note: The position is filled]

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