3 Resources |
3.15 Business spend on R&D |
Why is it
significant?
Expenditure on R&D is one measure of the extent to which business is developing and exploiting new technology and ideas. Expenditure on R&D by industry has also been shown to generate important spillover benefits for other firms and society as a whole. How does the UK perform? The
UK's overall performance in terms of business spend on R&D is poor.
The UK business sector spends less per worker on R&D than most
of its major competitors’ business sectors (Chart
3.15.1).
Since 1991 the trend has been broadly flat for the UK, in contrast
with a rising trend elsewhere. UK R&D per worker in 1999 is largely
the same as it was in 1991. |
Last updated on 12 March 2002