by Raymond M. Wolfe[1]
Businesses spent $375 billion on research and development performance in the United States in 2016, a 5.3% increase from 2015 (table 1). Funding from the companies' own sources was $318 billion in 2016, a 7.1% increase from 2015. Funding from other sources was $57 billion in 2016 and $59 billion in 2015. Data for this InfoBrief are from the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS), developed and cosponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation and by the U.S. Census Bureau.
i = more than 50% of the estimate is a combination of imputation and reweighting to account for nonresponse. a Domestic R&D performance is the cost of R&D paid for by the respondent company and others outside of the company and performed by the company. NOTES: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed or funded R&D. Excludes data for federally funded research and development centers. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau, Business R&D and Innovation Survey. |
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Selected characteristic and company size | 2015 | 2016 | ||
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Domestic R&D performancea | 355,821 | 374,685 | ||
Type of R&Db | ||||
Basic research | 21,792 | 24,644 | ||
Applied research | 56,472 | 61,020 | ||
Development | 277,558 | 289,021 | ||
Paid for by the companyc | 296,677 | 317,731 | ||
Basic research | 16,306 | 19,143 | ||
Applied research | 44,344 | 48,806 | ||
Development | 236,027 | 249,782 | ||
Paid for by others | 59,144 | 56,954 | ||
Basic research | 5,486 | 5,501 | i | |
Applied research | 12,128 | 12,213 | ||
Development | 41,530 | 39,239 | ||
Source of funds | ||||
Federal | 26,990 | 23,772 | ||
Otherd | 32,154 | 33,182 | ||
Size of company (number of domestic employees) | ||||
Micro companiese | ||||
5–9 | 2,988 | i | 1,581 | i |
Small companies | ||||
10–19 | 5,680 | i | 4,958 | i |
20–49 | 10,249 | i | 9,662 | i |
Medium companies | ||||
50–99 | 11,509 | 9,298 | ||
100–249 | 13,602 | 14,875 | ||
Large companies | ||||
250–499 | 13,553 | 13,092 | ||
500–999 | 15,217 | 14,450 | ||
1,000–4,999 | 58,094 | 63,971 | ||
5,000–9,999 | 38,838 | 40,633 | ||
10,000–24,999 | 59,328 | 65,594 | ||
25,000 or more | 126,763 | 136,571 |
In 2016, of the $375 billion companies spent on R&D, $25 billion (7%) was spent on basic research, $61 billion (16%) on applied research, and $289 billion (77%) on development. The distribution was similar to the 2015 distribution (6%, 16%, and 78%, respectively) (table 1). In 2016, companies in manufacturing industries performed $251 billion (67%) of domestic R&D, defined as R&D performed in the 50 states and Washington, DC (table 2). Most of the funding was from these companies' own funds (84%). Companies in nonmanufacturing industries performed $124 billion of domestic R&D (33% of total domestic R&D performance), 85% of which was paid for from companies' own funds.
* = amount is less than $500,000; D = suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information; i = more than 50% of the estimate is a combination of imputation and reweighting to account for nonresponse. NAICS = North American Industry Classification System; nec = not elsewhere classified. a All R&D is the cost of domestic R&D paid for by the respondent company and others outside of the company and performed by the company.
NOTES: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed or funded R&D. Industry classification was based on dominant business code for domestic R&D performance, where available. For companies that did not report business codes, the classification used for sampling was assigned. Excludes data for federally funded research and development centers. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau, Business R&D and Innovation Survey, 2016. |
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Paid for by others | ||||||||||||||
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Companies | ||||||||||||||
Industry, NAICS code, and company size | All R&Da | Paid for by the companyb |
Total | Federal | Domestic | Foreignc | All other organizationsd |
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All industries, 21–33, 42–81 | 374,685 | 317,731 | 56,954 | 23,772 | 14,239 | 17,692 | 1,251 | |||||||
Manufacturing industries, 31–33 | 250,553 | 211,660 | 38,893 | 19,217 | 4,812 | 14,194 | 670 | |||||||
Chemicals, 325 | 73,575 | 64,165 | 9,410 | 212 | 1,484 | i | 7,605 | 109 | i | |||||
Pharmaceuticals and medicines, 3254 | 64,628 | 55,983 | 8,644 | 147 | 1,414 | i | 6,976 | 107 | i | |||||
Other 325 | 8,947 | 8,182 | 766 | 65 | 70 | 629 | 2 | |||||||
Machinery, 333 | 12,585 | 11,699 | 886 | 152 | 159 | 545 | i | 30 | ||||||
Computer and electronic products, 334 | 77,385 | 68,515 | 8,869 | 4,410 | 1,272 | 3,059 | 128 | |||||||
Electrical equipment, appliance, and components, 335 | 4,771 | 4,302 | 469 | i | 46 | i | 9 | i | 393 | i | 21 | i | ||
Transportation equipment, 336 | 51,275 | 32,905 | 18,371 | 14,325 | 1,587 | 2,104 | 355 | |||||||
Automobiles, bodies, trailers, and parts, 3361–63 | 22,042 | 19,293 | 2,749 | D | D | 2,031 | i | D | ||||||
Aerospace products and parts, 3364 | 26,645 | 12,272 | 14,373 | 12,904 | 1,110 | D | D | |||||||
Other 336 | 2,588 | 1,340 | 1,249 | D | D | D | D | |||||||
Manufacturing nec, other 31–33 | 30,962 | 30,074 | 888 | i | 72 | i | 301 | i | 488 | i | 27 | i | ||
Nonmanufacturing industries, 21–23, 42–81 | 124,132 | 106,071 | 18,061 | 4,555 | 9,427 | i | 3,498 | 581 | i | |||||
Information, 51 | 70,748 | 70,075 | 674 | 25 | 142 | 503 | 4 | |||||||
Software publishers, 5112 | 33,495 | 33,098 | 397 | 7 | 50 | 341 | 0 | |||||||
Other 51 | 37,253 | 36,977 | 277 | 18 | 92 | 162 | 4 | |||||||
Finance and insurance, 52 | 7,331 | 7,237 | 94 | 0 | * | 8 | i | 86 | ||||||
Professional, scientific, and technical services, 54 | 37,595 | 20,845 | 16,750 | 4,496 | 9,174 | i | 2,619 | 461 | i | |||||
Computer systems design and related services, 5415 | 15,747 | 13,255 | 2,492 | i | 583 | 432 | 1,434 | 43 | ||||||
Scientific R&D services, 5417 | 14,842 | 2,811 | 12,031 | 2,675 | 8,374 | i | 863 | 119 | i | |||||
Other 54 | 7,006 | 4,779 | 2,227 | i | 1,238 | 368 | i | 322 | 299 | i | ||||
Nonmanufacturing nec, other 21–23, 42–81 | 8,458 | 7,914 | 543 | 34 | 111 | 368 | i | 30 | ||||||
Size of company (number of domestic employees) | ||||||||||||||
Micro companiese | ||||||||||||||
5–9 | 1,581 | i | 1,044 | i | 536 | i | 263 | i | D | D | D | |||
Small companies | ||||||||||||||
10–19 | 4,958 | i | 3,887 | i | 1,071 | i | 393 | i | 394 | i | 235 | i | 49 | i |
20–49 | 9,662 | i | 7,473 | i | 2,189 | 899 | 598 | i | 490 | i | 202 | i | ||
Medium companies | ||||||||||||||
50–99 | 9,298 | 7,728 | 1,570 | 451 | 427 | 667 | 25 | |||||||
100–249 | 14,875 | 11,722 | 3,153 | 839 | 716 | 1,481 | 117 | |||||||
Large companies | ||||||||||||||
250–499 | 13,092 | 11,438 | 1,654 | 462 | 390 | 766 | 36 | |||||||
500–999 | 14,450 | 13,525 | 924 | 258 | 100 | 564 | 2 | |||||||
1,000–4,999 | 63,971 | 53,305 | 10,666 | 1,134 | 3,076 | 6,347 | 109 | |||||||
5,000–9,999 | 40,633 | 35,887 | 4,746 | 1,132 | i | D | D | D | ||||||
10,000–24,999 | 65,594 | 53,384 | 12,210 | 3,994 | 3,767 | i | 4,315 | 134 | i | |||||
25,000 or more | 136,571 | 118,339 | 18,232 | 13,948 | i | 3,570 | 325 | i | 389 | i |
The U.S. federal government was the chief source of external funding for R&D (also referred to as R&D paid for by others) across all industries. Of the $57 billion paid for by others, the federal government accounted for $24 billion, most of which came from the Department of Defense ($16 billion) (data available in full set of data tables). Ninety-two percent of federal government funding went toward aerospace products and parts (North American Industry Classification System [NAICS] code 3364) ($13 billion), professional, scientific, and technical services (NAICS 54) ($5 billion), and computer and electronic products (NAICS 334) ($4 billion). Next among external funders were foreign companies ($18 billion)—including foreign parent companies of U.S. subsidiaries—and other U.S. companies ($14 billion) (table 2). (See " Survey Information and Data Availability" for information on the availability of data tables with full industry detail.)
Micro-, small-, and medium-sized companies (5 to 249 domestic employees) performed 11% of the nation's total business R&D in 2016 (table 1). In these companies, the R&D-to-sales ratio (or R&D intensity) was 7.8% (table 1 and table 3). These companies accounted for 6% of sales and employed 9% of the 19.3 million employees who worked for R&D-performing or R&D-funding companies. They employed 20% of the 1.5 million employees engaged in business R&D in the United States.
NAICS = North American Industry Classification System; nec = not elsewhere classified. a Dollar values for goods sold or services rendered by R&D-performing or R&D-funding companies located in the United States to customers outside of the company, including the U.S. federal government, foreign customers, and the company's foreign subsidiaries. Included are revenues from a company's foreign operations and subsidiaries and from discontinued operations. If a respondent company is owned by a foreign parent company, sales to the parent company and to affiliates not owned by the respondent company are included. Excluded are intracompany transfers, returns, allowances, freight charges, and excise, sales, and other revenue-based taxes.
NOTES: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Sales, R&D intensity, and total domestic employment statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed or funded R&D; R&D employment statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed R&D. Industry classification was based on dominant business code for domestic R&D performance, where available. For companies that did not report business codes, the classification used for sampling was assigned. Excludes data for federally funded research and development centers. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau, Business R&D and Innovation Survey, 2016. |
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Domestic employment (thousands)c |
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Industry, NAICS code, and company size | Domestic net sales (US$millions)a |
R&D intensity (%)b |
Total | R&Dd |
All industries, 21–33, 42–81 | 9,191,871 | 4.1 | 19,293 | 1,522 |
Manufacturing industries, 31–33 | 5,396,816 | 4.6 | 9,879 | 912 |
Chemicals, 325 | 1,039,760 | 7.1 | 1,257 | 173 |
Pharmaceuticals and medicines, 3254 | 579,390 | 11.2 | 562 | 123 |
Other 325 | 460,370 | 1.9 | 695 | 50 |
Machinery, 333 | 296,633 | 4.2 | 824 | 78 |
Computer and electronic products, 334 | 786,351 | 9.8 | 1,336 | 264 |
Electrical equipment, appliance, and components, 335 | 148,671 | 3.2 | 306 | 28 |
Transportation equipment, 336 | 1,289,540 | 4.0 | 1,953 | 168 |
Automobiles, bodies, trailers, and parts, 3361–63 | 886,881 | 2.5 | 1,088 | 92 |
Aerospace products and parts, 3364 | 336,565 | 7.9 | 643 | 61 |
Other 336 | 66,094 | 3.9 | 222 | 15 |
Manufacturing nec, other 31–33 | 1,835,861 | 1.7 | 4,203 | 201 |
Nonmanufacturing industries, 21–23, 42–81 | 3,795,055 | 3.3 | 9,414 | 610 |
Information, 51 | 1,064,822 | 6.6 | 1,832 | 277 |
Software publishers, 5112 | 396,108 | 8.5 | 630 | 142 |
Other 51 | 668,714 | 5.6 | 1,202 | 135 |
Finance and insurance, 52 | 713,192 | 1.0 | 1,114 | 37 |
Professional, scientific, and technical services, 54 | 421,882 | 8.9 | 1,373 | 240 |
Computer systems design and related services, 5415 | 175,787 | 9.0 | 480 | 92 |
Scientific R&D services, 5417 | 66,620 | 22.3 | 264 | 79 |
Other 54 | 179,475 | 3.9 | 629 | 69 |
Nonmanufacturing nec, other 21–23, 42–81 | 1,595,159 | 0.5 | 5,095 | 56 |
Size of company (number of domestic employees) | ||||
Micro companiese | ||||
5–9 | 6,778 | 23.3 | 34 | 15 |
Small companies | ||||
10–19 | 25,795 | 19.2 | 111 | 37 |
20–49 | 100,067 | 9.7 | 323 | 75 |
Medium companies | ||||
50–99 | 113,696 | 8.2 | 413 | 69 |
100–249 | 271,388 | 5.5 | 764 | 101 |
Large companies | ||||
250–499 | 276,513 | 4.7 | 700 | 75 |
500–999 | 326,260 | 4.4 | 739 | 74 |
1,000–4,999 | 1,238,059 | 5.2 | 2,583 | 278 |
5,000–9,999 | 994,329 | 4.1 | 1,859 | 159 |
10,000–24,999 | 1,677,581 | 3.9 | 2,898 | 243 |
25,000 or more | 4,161,406 | 3.3 | 8,869 | 395 |
Large companies with 250 to 24,999 domestic employees performed 53% of the nation's total business R&D in 2016, and their R&D intensity was 4.4%. They accounted for 49% of sales, employed 46% of those who worked for R&D-performing or R&D-funding companies, and employed 54% of R&D employees in the United States.
The largest companies (25,000 or more domestic employees) performed 36% of the nation's total business R&D in 2016, and their R&D intensity was 3.3%. They accounted for 45% of sales, employed 46% of those who worked for R&D-performing or R&D-funding companies, and employed 26% of R&D employees in the United States.
Business R&D is concentrated in a relatively small number of states. In 2016, companies reported $318 billion of domestic R&D paid for by the company. Businesses in California alone accounted for 33% of this amount (table 4). Other states with large amounts of business R&D paid for by companies' own funds in 2016 were Washington (6% of the national total), Massachusetts (6%), Michigan (5%), Texas (5%), New York (4%), New Jersey (4%), Illinois (4%), and Pennsylvania (4%).[2]
e = more than 50% of the cell value is imputed due to raking of state data; i = more than 50% of the estimate is a combination of imputation and reweighting to account for nonresponse. a All R&D is the cost of domestic R&D paid for by the respondent company and others outside of the company and performed by the company.
NOTES: Detail may not add to totals because of rounding. Statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed or funded R&D. Excludes data for federally funded research and development centers. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau, Business R&D and Innovation Survey, 2016. |
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State | All R&Da | Paid for by the company |
Paid for by others |
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---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 374,685 | 317,731 | 56,954 | |||
Alabama | 1,694 | 868 | 826 | |||
Alaska | 34 | e | 27 | e | 7 | e |
Arizona | 6,472 | 4,743 | 1,730 | |||
Arkansas | 366 | 340 | 27 | |||
California | 117,569 | 105,769 | 11,800 | |||
Colorado | 4,355 | 3,542 | 813 | |||
Connecticut | 7,987 | 6,101 | 1,886 | i | ||
Delaware | 2,069 | 1,463 | 605 | |||
District of Columbia | 328 | 230 | 98 | |||
Florida | 6,273 | 4,441 | 1,832 | i | ||
Georgia | 5,245 | 4,273 | 972 | i | ||
Hawaii | 164 | 114 | i | 49 | ||
Idaho | 1,590 | 1,398 | 192 | |||
Illinois | 13,733 | 11,822 | 1,911 | |||
Indiana | 5,949 | 4,988 | 961 | |||
Iowa | 2,862 | 2,225 | 636 | |||
Kansas | 2,204 | 1,469 | 735 | i | ||
Kentucky | 1,070 | 752 | 317 | |||
Louisiana | 274 | 228 | 45 | i | ||
Maine | 290 | 261 | 29 | |||
Maryland | 5,676 | 3,335 | 2,341 | |||
Massachusetts | 21,560 | 18,084 | 3,476 | |||
Michigan | 18,847 | 17,454 | 1,393 | |||
Minnesota | 7,084 | 6,601 | 483 | |||
Mississippi | 222 | 198 | 24 | |||
Missouri | 5,958 | i | 3,466 | 2,492 | i | |
Montana | 140 | 121 | 19 | |||
Nebraska | 604 | 491 | 114 | |||
Nevada | 574 | 412 | 162 | |||
New Hampshire | 1,919 | 767 | 1,151 | |||
New Jersey | 15,715 | 12,902 | 2,813 | |||
New Mexico | 487 | 323 | 164 | |||
New York | 15,714 | 13,454 | 2,260 | |||
North Carolina | 10,064 | 7,226 | 2,838 | i | ||
North Dakota | 254 | 237 | 17 | |||
Ohio | 8,892 | 6,366 | 2,526 | |||
Oklahoma | 692 | 642 | 50 | i | ||
Oregon | 6,523 | 6,316 | 207 | |||
Pennsylvania | 12,300 | 11,161 | 1,138 | |||
Rhode Island | 875 | i | 822 | i | 53 | |
South Carolina | 1,301 | 1,146 | 155 | |||
South Dakota | 151 | 135 | 16 | i | ||
Tennessee | 1,610 | 1,383 | 226 | |||
Texas | 17,353 | 14,913 | 2,440 | |||
Utah | 3,453 | 2,876 | 577 | |||
Vermont | 248 | 230 | 17 | |||
Virginia | 3,773 | 2,240 | 1,532 | |||
Washington | 19,673 | 19,001 | 671 | |||
West Virginia | 182 | 157 | 25 | |||
Wisconsin | 4,972 | 4,387 | 585 | |||
Wyoming | 172 | 164 | 8 | i | ||
Undistributed fundsb | 7,173 | 5,664 | 1,509 |
U.S. companies that performed or funded R&D reported domestic net sales of $9 trillion in 2016 (table 3).[3] For all industries, the R&D intensity was 4.1%; for manufacturers, 4.6%; and for nonmanufacturers, 3.3%. Manufacturing industries with high levels of R&D intensity in 2016 were pharmaceuticals and medicines (NAICS 3254) (11.2%), computer and electronic products (NAICS 334) (9.8%), and aerospace products and parts (NAICS 3364) (7.9%). Among the nonmanufacturing industries, industries with high levels of R&D intensity were scientific R&D services (NAICS 5417) (22.3%), computer systems design and related services (NAICS 5415) (9.0%), and software publishers (NAICS 5112) (8.5%).
Businesses that performed or funded R&D employed 19.3 million people in the United States in 2016. Approximately 1.5 million (8%) were R&D employees.[4] Not surprisingly, industries with high levels of R&D intensity also had high numbers of R&D employees: computer and electronic products (NAICS 334) (264,000 R&D employees), pharmaceuticals and medicines (NAICS 3254) (123,000), and aerospace products and parts (NAICS 3364) (61,000). Nonmanufacturing industry groups with high numbers of R&D employees were software publishers (NAICS 5112) (142,000 R&D employees), computer systems design and related services (NAICS 5415) (92,000), and scientific R&D services (NAICS 5417) (79,000) (table 3).
Companies that performed or funded R&D in the United States in 2016 spent $561 billion on assets with expected useful lives of more than 1 year (table 5). Of this amount, $25 billion (5%) was spent on structures, equipment, software, and other assets used for R&D: $15 billion by manufacturing industries and $10 billion by nonmanufacturing industries. Manufacturing industries with high levels of capital expenditures on assets used for R&D in 2016 were pharmaceuticals and medicines (NAICS 3254) ($3.5 billion, 14% of capital expenditures on assets used for R&D), semiconductor and other electronic products (NAICS 3344) ($2.0 billion, 8%), automobiles, bodies, trailers, and parts (NAICS 3361–63) ($1.4 billion, 6%), and aerospace products and parts (NAICS 3364) ($0.9 billion, 4%). Among the nonmanufacturing industries with high levels of capital assets used for R&D were software publishers (NAICS 5112) ($1.6 billion, 7%), telecommunications services (NAICS 517) ($1.6 billion, 6%), and computer systems design and related services (NAICS 5415) ($1.5 billion, 6%).
i = more than 50% of the estimate is a combination of imputation and reweighting to account for nonresponse. NAICS = North American Industry Classification System; nec = not elsewhere classified. a Domestic R&D is the R&D paid for by the respondent company and others outside of the company and performed by the company.
NOTES: Detail may not add to total because of rounding. Statistics are representative of companies located in the United States that performed or funded R&D. Industry classification was based on dominant business code for domestic R&D performance, where available. For companies that did not report business codes, the classification used for sampling was assigned. Excludes data for federally funded research and development centers. SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, and U.S. Census Bureau, Business R&D and Innovation Survey, 2016. |
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Used for domestic R&Da | |||||||||||||
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Selected industry, NAICS code, and company size | Totalb | Totalb,c | Structuresd | Equipment | Capitalized software |
All other and undistributede |
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All industries, 21–33, 42–81 | 560,900 | 25,248 | 3,072 | 11,839 | 6,793 | 3,543 | |||||||
Manufacturing industries, 31–33 | 235,923 | 14,948 | 2,471 | 8,376 | 1,850 | 2,251 | i | ||||||
Chemicals, 325 | 40,570 | 4,336 | 1,364 | 1,982 | 629 | 361 | |||||||
Pharmaceuticals and medicines, 3254 | 16,577 | 3,511 | 1,242 | 1,410 | 545 | 314 | |||||||
Other 325 | 23,993 | 825 | 122 | 572 | 84 | 47 | |||||||
Machinery, 333 | 11,037 | 1,096 | 85 | 825 | 101 | 85 | |||||||
Computer and electronic products, 334 | 35,960 | 4,441 | 149 | 2,812 | 528 | 953 | i | ||||||
Communication equipment, 3342 | 3,711 | 427 | i | 30 | i | 343 | i | 29 | i | 26 | i | ||
Semiconductor and other electronic products, 3344 | 16,786 | i | 1,965 | i | 47 | i | 1,087 | i | 100 | i | 731 | i | |
Other 334 | 15,463 | 2,049 | 72 | 1,382 | 399 | 196 | |||||||
Electrical equipment, appliance, and components, 335 | 3,260 | 179 | 18 | 103 | 7 | 51 | |||||||
Transportation equipment, 336 | 66,588 | 2,513 | 600 | 1,235 | 250 | 427 | |||||||
Automobiles, bodies, trailers, and parts, 3361–63 | 45,894 | 1,444 | 103 | 884 | 181 | 275 | |||||||
Aerospace products and parts, 3364 | 17,904 | 890 | 494 | 277 | 63 | 55 | |||||||
Other 336 | 2,790 | 179 | 3 | 74 | 6 | 97 | |||||||
Manufacturing nec, other 31–33 | 78,508 | 2,383 | 255 | 1,419 | 335 | 374 | |||||||
Nonmanufacturing industries, 21–23, 42–81 | 324,977 | 10,299 | 602 | 3,463 | i | 4,943 | 1,292 | ||||||
Information, 51 | 95,151 | 4,807 | 288 | 1,843 | 2,027 | 649 | |||||||
Software publishers, 5112 | 13,541 | 1,642 | 176 | 907 | 185 | 374 | |||||||
Telecommunications services, 517 | 58,713 | 1,559 | 1 | 450 | i | 1,073 | 36 | i | |||||
Other 51 | 22,897 | 1,606 | 111 | 486 | 769 | 239 | |||||||
Finance and insurance, 52 | 14,385 | i | 2,187 | 36 | 189 | 1,696 | 265 | ||||||
Professional, scientific, and technical services, 54 | 19,514 | 2,152 | i | 114 | i | 934 | i | 809 | i | 296 | i | ||
Computer systems design and related services, 5415 | 7,215 | i | 1,464 | i | 66 | i | 670 | i | 586 | i | 143 | i | |
Scientific R&D services, 5417 | 1,552 | 348 | 39 | 186 | 16 | 107 | |||||||
Other 54 | 10,747 | 340 | 9 | 78 | 207 | 46 | |||||||
Nonmanufacturing nec, other 21–23, 42–81 | 195,927 | 1,153 | 164 | 497 | 411 | 82 | |||||||
Size of company (number of domestic employees) | |||||||||||||
Micro companiesf | |||||||||||||
5–9 | 556 | i | 75 | 9 | 44 | 6 | i | 16 | |||||
Small companies | |||||||||||||
10–19 | 2,967 | i | 315 | 20 | 186 | 26 | i | 83 | |||||
20–49 | 8,005 | i | 542 | i | 41 | i | 283 | i | 119 | i | 99 | ||
Medium companies | |||||||||||||
50–99 | 13,984 | i | 520 | 60 | 254 | 102 | 104 | ||||||
100–249 | 20,113 | i | 1,212 | 86 | 489 | 170 | i | 468 | |||||
Large companies | |||||||||||||
250–499 | 26,216 | i | 1,337 | 116 | 597 | 371 | 253 | ||||||
500–999 | 17,807 | 1,110 | 66 | i | 546 | 279 | 218 | ||||||
1,000–4,999 | 64,733 | 4,208 | 606 | 1,967 | 1,136 | 499 | |||||||
5,000–9,999 | 53,985 | 2,849 | 445 | 1,466 | 587 | i | 351 | ||||||
10,000–24,999 | 105,334 | 5,326 | 804 | 1,928 | 1,532 | 1,062 | i | ||||||
25,000 or more | 247,200 | 7,754 | 820 | 4,079 | 2,465 | 390 | i |
In this InfoBrief, money amounts are expressed in current U.S. dollars and are not adjusted for inflation. A company for BRDIS is defined as a business organization located in the United States, either U.S. owned or a U.S. affiliate of a foreign parent company, of one or more establishments under common ownership or control.
The sample for BRDIS was selected to represent all for-profit, nonfarm companies that were publicly or privately held and had five or more employees in the United States. Estimates produced from the survey and presented in this InfoBrief are restricted to companies that performed or funded R&D, either domestically or abroad. Because the statistics from the survey are based on a sample, they are subject to both sampling and nonsampling errors (see technical notes in the data tables reports at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyindustry/).
For 2015, a total of 44,824 companies were sampled to represent the population of 2,029,436 companies; for 2016, a total of 44,861 companies were sampled, representing 1,485,151 companies. The representative population decreased primarily because the criteria for inclusion in the BRDIS sample was changed for 2016 in two ways. First, companies classified in the other nonmanufacturing (ONM) category with fewer than 10 employees, compared with fewer than 5 employees previously, were deemed out of scope because these companies account for negligible R&D. Second, regardless of employment size, a payroll threshold of $250,000 was previously used to identify in-scope companies. For 2016 the payroll threshold was removed except for companies for which employment was missing at the time of sampling. Combined, these two changes accounted for a decrease in population of approximately 459,000 companies; the rest of the decrease, approximately 85,000 companies, may have been due to various factors such as timing of updates to the U.S. Census Bureau's Business Register.
The actual numbers of reporting units in the sample that remained within the scope of the survey between sample selection and tabulation were 40,806 for 2015 and 42,122 for 2016. These lower counts represent the number of reporting units that were determined to be within the scope of the survey after all data collected were processed. Reasons for the reduced counts include mergers, acquisitions, and instances where companies had fewer than five paid employees in the United States or had gone out of business in the interim. Of these in-scope reporting units, 79.6% were considered to have met the criteria for a complete response to the 2015 survey; 80.2% met the 2016 complete response criteria. Coverage of the previous year's known positive R&D stratum for 2015 was 84.5%; the coverage rate for 2016 was 84.0%. Industry classification was based on the dominant business activity for domestic R&D performance where available. For reporting units that did not report business activity codes for R&D, the classification used for sampling was assigned.
The full set of data tables from this survey will be available in the report Business R&D and Innovation: 2016 (https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyindustry/). Individual data tables and tables with relative standard errors and imputation rates from the 2016 survey are available in advance of the full report. Statistics for new items added to the survey for 2016 are available in the full set of tables, including for royalty and licensing fees relating to R&D; R&D performed by U.S. universities, colleges, and academic researchers; R&D paid for by U.S. federal government agencies or laboratories and performed by others outside the respondent company; and revenue for the sale and licensing of utility patents.
Note that the 2016 cycle of BRDIS is the last cycle that collected data for business innovation activities. A separate, more comprehensive collection of innovation data, as part of the Annual Business Survey co-sponsored by NCSES and Census, has been undertaken and will produce statistics for 2017 and beyond. Beginning with the 2017 data collection, BRDIS—the Business R&D and Innovation Survey—will be the Business Research and Development Survey (BRDS).
[1] Raymond M. Wolfe, Research and Development Statistics Program, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite W14200, Alexandria, VA 22314 (rwolfe@nsf.gov; 703-292-7789).
[2] Below-state level data have been collected annually beginning with the 2008 cycle of BRDIS. The 2008 and 2009 cycles included the question "At what domestic location did your company perform the largest dollar amount of R&D" for R&D paid for and performed by the company. For 2010, the question was repeated and a new question covering R&D paid for by others was added. For 2011 and subsequent years, those questions were repeated and two questions covering the "second-largest dollar amount of R&D" were added.
[3] Determining the amount of domestic net sales and operating revenues was left to the reporting company. However, guidance was given to include revenues from foreign operations and subsidiaries and from discontinued operations and to exclude intracompany transfers, returns, allowances, freight charges, and excise, sales, and other revenue-based taxes.
[4] Employment statistics in this InfoBrief are head counts. Full-time equivalent statistics are available in the data tables. R&D employees include R&D scientists and engineers, their managers, and the technicians, technologists, and support staff members who work on R&D or who provide direct support to R&D activities.