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1.6.R&D in all fields of science and technology is covered

27.The first two versions of the Manual covered only the natural sciences and engineering. The social sciences and humanities were incorporated in the third edition (OECD, 1976), adopted in 1974. Although the Manual recommends standard practice, it is understood that, for various reasons, some deviations may have to be accepted for the social sciences and humanities (SSH). Experience in member countries differs: some find that surveys can cover all sciences in all sectors, others find that common procedures are not always appropriate.

28.The special problems of measuring SSH R&D are raised as they occur in the various chapters of the Manual.

1.7.Measures of R&D inputs

29.For statistical purposes, two inputs are measured: R&D expenditures and R&D personnel. Both inputs are normally measured on an annual basis: so much spent during a year, so many person-years used during a year. Both series have their strengths and weaknesses, and, in consequence, both are necessary to secure an adequate representation of the effort devoted to R&D.

1.7.1. R&D personnel

30.Data on the utilisation of scientific and technical personnel provide concrete measurements for international comparisons of resources devoted to R&D. It is recognised, however, that R&D inputs are only one part of the input of a nation’s human resources to the public welfare; scientific and technical personnel contribute much more to industrial, agricultural and medical progress through their involvement in production, operations, quality control, management, education and other functions. The measurement of these stocks of scientific and technical manpower is the subject of the Canberra Manual (OECD, 1995); the focus in this Manual is instead the measurement and classification of R&D resources.

31.For R&D personnel data, the problem arises of reducing such data to full-time equivalent (FTE) or person-years spent on R&D (see Chapter 5, Section 5.3). It is recommended therefore that data should also be collected in terms of physical persons (“headcount”) so that they can be used in overall models and databases on S&T personnel.

32.The national R&D effort requires a wide variety of personnel, from the Nobel prize winner to the winner’s secretary, from the designer of space experiments to the breeder of laboratory animals. Because of the range of skills and education required, it is essential to classify R&D personnel into categories.

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33. Two systems are now used by OECD member countries to classify persons engaged in R&D. Chapter 5, Section 5.2, contains definitions both for a classification by occupation, linked as far as possible to the International Standard Classification of Occupation – ISCO (ILO, 1990), and for a classification by level of formal qualification based entirely on the International Standard Classification of Education – ISCED (UNESCO, 1997). While it would be desirable to have data based on both classifications, most member countries use only one. As data are available by occupation for most OECD countries, the fact that a few still collect only qualification data for some or all sectors means that serious problems of international comparability remain. It may be argued that, in an efficient system, there should be no major difference between the two – that all those employed as researchers, for example, would have university degrees and that all university graduates working on R&D would be employed as researchers. In practice, however, this is not the case. For example, a number of mature researchers do not have university-level qualifications, although they have other post-secondary qualifications or equivalent experience. Conversely, an increasing number of young university graduates are employed not as researchers but as high-level technicians or as support staff.

1.7.2. R&D expenditures

34.The basic measure is “intramural expenditures”; i.e. all expenditures for R&D performed within a statistical unit or sector of the economy. Another measure, “extramural expenditures”, covers payments for R&D performed outside the statistical unit or sector of the economy. For R&D purposes, both current costs and capital expenditures are measured. In the case of the government sector, expenditures refer to direct rather than indirect expenditures. Depreciation costs are excluded. Further details on the coverage and content of R&D expenditures are given in Chapter 6, Section 6.2, of the Manual.

35.R&D is an activity involving significant transfers of resources among units, organisations and sectors and especially between government and other performers. It is important for science policy advisors and analysts to know who finances R&D and who performs it. Chapter 6 deals with ways of tracing the flow of R&D funds. It is stressed that such flows should be based on replies from performers of R&D and not on replies from the source of funds (see Chapter 6, Section 6.3). Guidelines are suggested for the treatment of public general university funds (GUF), also called general university funds, i.e. that part of university research which is financed from the general grant from ministries of education, which is destined for both education and research. Such flows may represent up to over half of all support for university research and are an important share of all public support for R&D.

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36.The main disadvantage of expressing R&D input series in monetary terms is that they are affected by differences in price levels between countries and over time. It can be shown that current exchange rates often do not reflect the balance of R&D prices between countries and that in times of high inflation general price indices do not accurately reflect trends in the cost of performing R&D. The Manual recommends using purchasing power parities (PPP) and the implicit gross domestic price (GDP) price index for R&D statistics, although it is recognised that they reflect the opportunity cost of the resources devoted to R&D rather than the “real” amounts involved. Methods of developing special R&D deflators and R&D exchange rates are discussed in Annex 9.

1.7.3. R&D facilities

37. Indicators of facilities available for R&D may be envisaged but are seldom collected and are not discussed in the Manual. Standardised equipment, library facilities, laboratory space, journal subscriptions and standardised computer time would all be possible measures.

1.7.4. National R&D efforts

38.Although R&D activities take place throughout the economy, they are often perceived as a whole for science policy purposes, i.e. as the “national R&D effort”. One aim of the Manual is therefore to establish specifications for R&D input data that can both be collected from a wide range of performers and also be aggregated to meaningful national totals. The main expenditure aggregate used for international comparison is gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD), which covers all expenditures for R&D performed on national territory in a given year. It thus includes domestically performed R&D which is financed from abroad but excludes R&D funds paid abroad, notably to international agencies. The corresponding personnel measure does not have a special name. It covers total personnel working on R&D (in FTE) on national territory during a given year. International comparisons are sometimes restricted to researchers (or university graduates) because it is considered that they are the true core of the R&D system.

1.8.Globalisation of R&D and R&D co-operation

39.Various studies have shown that R&D activities are more and more a worldwide activity and that a bigger share of R&D is performed in co-operation with individual researchers, research teams and research units. Multinational enterprises play an increasing role as does R&D co-operation between university and other research units and enterprises, both formally, via organisations such as the European Union (EU) or the European Organization for

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