The U.S. research and development environment is being shaped in 2008 by a myriad of economic, political, and technical factors.

Analysis conducted by Battelle researchers and the editors of R&D Magazine on the conduct of research and development in the U.S. reveals that the federal government, along with academia, industry, and non-profit organizations, will invest about $367 billion dollars in U.S. R&D in 2008, an increase of about 3.7% over that spent in 2007.

Throughout the past 10 to 15 years, the R&D enterprise in the U.S. has undergone changes which have been leading toward a new equilibrium between those who fund research and those who perform it. In large part, these changes have been driven by a number of different factors, some of which relate to theories of technology management and others which have been forced—directly or indirectly—by events over which we have had no control.

Overall, a review of the patterns of nearly a half-century of R&D funding and performance have demonstrated two interrelated basic characteristics—inertia and stability. These features of the system are largely the result of the planning and decision-making processes that characterized both industry and government in the U.S. The time lag between the budget authorization and actual outlays in the federal government and the planning process in industry, where R&D expenditures are influenced by sales and earnings, contribute to a degree of stability. Consequently, the entire R&D system moves gradually, generally with only small year-to-year changes in the patterns of support and performance.

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