Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 3 December 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5446, p. 1827
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5446.1827c
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

ScienceScope

Japan's investment in research has reached record levels. According to new figures from the country's Management and Coordination Agency, total R&D spending was $122 billion for the year ending on 31 March, a 2.5% increase over the previous year despite an economy that shrank by 2.1%. Japan devoted 3.26% of its $3.7 trillion gross domestic product to research, well ahead of the 2.79% figure posted by the second-place United States for its $8.8 trillion economy (Science, 29 October, p. 881), although the countries use different accounting methods.

The 1998 numbers for Japan show that public spending grew by a robust 9%, to $27 billion, while spending by the recession-battered private sector edged up 0.7%, to $95 billion. "Given the severe [economic] conditions, the spending trend is very positive," says an official at the Science and Technology Agency.

The government's share of the spending pie rose to 21.7% in a deliberate effort to bring it in line with rates for other industrialized countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. government's contribution to R&D spending continues to drop, reaching a record low of 26.7% of a projected $247 billion in 1999. Ironically, many U.S. officials are wringing their hands at the declining federal contribution, caused largely by a surge of industrial R&D in conjunction with a booming economy.

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)