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NSF Finds R&D Concentration Continues in Top States
The 20 states with the least total R&D expenditures increased their share of the total pot in 1999 to 5 percent, according to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) latest InfoBrief. In 1998, NSF found the lowest 20 states captured only 4 percent of the nation's R&D investment.
To those who argue the nation's R&D investment should be more evenly distributed across the country — particularly expenditures made by the federal government — the finding may suggest progress has been made.
Or has it?
NSF also reported, and titled the InfoBrief accordingly, that the 1999 data revealed half of the nation's total R&D investment occurred in only six states, up half a percent from 1998. The share captured by the top 10 states grew from 85 percent in 1998 to 86 percent in 1999, according to the InfoBrief.
At $10.695 billion, Pennsylvania joined the six other "10 billion plus" states for total R&D expenditures in 1999: California ($47.965B), Michigan ($18.799B), New York ($14.110B), Texas ($12.429B), Massachusetts ($12.190B), and New Jersey ($10.536B). Pennsylvania's total jumped 22.1 percent between 1998 and 1999.
Michigan showed the greatest growth of the top 10 states, enjoying a 37.7 percent increase between 1998 and 1999. Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington experienced drops in total R&D expenditures.
The full InfoBrief, NSF02-322, can be found online at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf02322