Research and Development
Description:
The importance of research and development (R&D) investment is a central theme of the economic literature on economic growth. Economic analysis suggests that R&D investment is crucial for attaining increases in labor productivity that ultimately translate into improvements in prosperity. R&D investment is at the center of an innovation strategy and this indicator measures the extent to which the state’s businesses and universities are engaged in research and development.
The investment of the state’s public universities and businesses in R&D per $1 million of gross domestic product (GDP) is reported on Arizona Indicators. The academic R&D data are reported by source of the funding. The major sources are the federal government and “institutions” — the universities themselves.
Data Source:
National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. The industry R&D data are from the Business R&D and Innovation Survey: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/industry/. The path to the table that provides the data used in Arizona Indicators is “geographic distribution/by state/funds: selected years.” Data for prior years may be revised. The tables are updated on an inconsistent basis; the latest data are sometimes reported in a “brief” that is released about 18 months after the end of a year. The academic R&D data, which are reported by fiscal year, come from the R&D Expenditures at Universities and Colleges Survey: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/rdexpenditures/. The path to the six tables used in Arizona Indicators is “geographic distribution/by division and state: [range of years].” The data are released around 15 months after the end of a calendar year; data for prior years may be revised.
Gross domestic product is reported by the U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis: http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm.
Data Quality Comments:
The R&D data are derived from a survey.The industrial data in particular are subject to survey error; companies may be reluctant to disclose the amount of R&D that takes place at any particular facility. Industrial R&D by state was reported only for selected years prior to 1997; interpolated values for the missing years are shown in the chart. Some of the inputs to the calculation of GDP by state are estimated.
Research and Development Funding Per $1 Million of Gross Domestic Product
Visualization Notes:
* Academic R&D is reported by fiscal year
Industry R&D funding is substantially higher than academic R&D funding. Per $1 million of GDP, industry R&D funding has not displayed any trend since the mid-1980s. Except during the early 1980s, Arizona’s figure has been less than the national average. In 2007, the differential was 24 percent.
Per $1 million of GDP, academic R&D funding has trended up nationally but the Arizona figure generally dropped between fiscal years 1991 and 2007. Arizona’s figure was greater than the national average through 1997 but by 2007 was 15 percent below average. The differential narrowed to 11 percent in 2009.
Academic Research and Development Funding Per $1 Million of Gross Domestic Product by Source
Visualization Notes:
The federal government is the largest source of academic R&D funding. Per $1 million of GDP, federal R&D funding has trended up nationally, but the Arizona figure generally dropped from 1995 through 2007. Arizona’s figure had been close to the national average through the mid-1990s but fell to 30 percent below average in 2007; the 2009 differential was 25 percent. Institutional funding is the second largest source of academic R&D funding. Per $1 million of GDP, institutional R&D funding nationally has trended up, but the Arizona figure has dropped since 1991. Arizona’s figure during the 2000s, though considerably above the national average (by 32 percent in 2009), has not been as far above average as in earlier years.
The amount of academic R&D funding from state and local governments, industry, and other sources is considerably less than that from the federal government and institutions. Nationally, funding from industry per $1 million of GDP has fluctuated. Arizona’s figure was greater than the national average through 1995 and again from 2003 through 2006, but was far lower in 2008 and 2009. Funding from state and local governments has trended up modestly nationally; in Arizona, state and local government funding has been erratic and generally considerably below the national average, though the 2009 figure was nearly equal to the U.S. average. Similarly, funding from other sources has climbed nationally but has been erratic in Arizona, ranging from near to considerably less the national average; the differential in 2009 was 10 percent.
Data Source
National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. The industry R&D data are from the Business R&D and Innovation Survey: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/industry/. The path to the table that provides the data used in Arizona Indicators is “geographic distribution/by state/funds: selected years.” Data for prior years may be revised. The tables are updated on an inconsistent basis; the latest data are sometimes reported in a “brief” that is released about 18 months after the end of a year. The academic R&D data, which are reported by fiscal year, come from the R&D Expenditures at Universities and Colleges Survey: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/rdexpenditures/. The path to the six tables used in Arizona Indicators is “geographic distribution/by division and state: [range of years].” The data are released around 15 months after the end of a calendar year; data for prior years may be revised.
Gross domestic product is reported by the U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis: http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm.
Explore 
Download 
Download 
