NSF Reports US Lead In R&D Shrinking, Trails Asia

The United States’ leadership in science and technology was chipped away by Asian nations during the last decade, according to a new NSF report.

AsianScientist (Feb. 7, 2014) – The United States’ leadership in science and technology was chipped away by Asian nations during the last decade, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Science Board (NSB), the policy making body of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The major Asian economies, particularly China and South Korea, now perform a larger share of global R&D than the US, and China performs nearly as much of the world’s high-tech manufacturing as the US.

The biennial report, Science and Engineering Indicators, makes it increasingly clear that the US, Japan and Europe no longer monopolize the global R&D arena. Since 2001, the share of the world’s R&D performed in the US and Europe has decreased, respectively, from 37 percent to 30 percent and from 26 percent to 22 percent.

In this same time period, the share of worldwide R&D performed by Asian countries grew from 25 percent to 34 percent. China led the Asian expansion, with its global share growing from just 4 percent to 15 percent during this period.

“The first decade of the 21st century continues a dramatic shift in the global scientific landscape,” said NSB Chairman Dan Arvizu, who is also the director and chief executive of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “Emerging economies understand the role science and innovation play in the global marketplace and in economic competitiveness and have increasingly placed a priority on building their capacity in science and technology.”

Recognition on the part of national leaders that S&T innovation contributes to national competitiveness, improves living standards, and furthers social welfare has driven the rapid growth in R&D in many countries. China tripled its number of researchers between 1995 and 2008, whereas South Korea doubled its number between 1995 and 2006. And there are indications that students from these nations may be finding more opportunities for advanced education in science and employment in their home countries.

The size of China’s high-tech manufacturing industry also increased nearly six-fold between 2003 and 2012, raising China’s global share of high-tech manufacturing from eight percent to 24 percent during that decade, closing in on the US share of 27 percent.

In addition, emerging economies now invest more in clean energy – a critical 21st century industry – than advanced economies, investing nearly $100 billion in 2012 in clean energy, primarily wind and solar, with China serving as the “primary driver of investment” with $61 billion. China’s investment is more than double the $29 billion spent in the US.

Parent companies of US multinational corporations (MNCs) perform over 80 percent of their worldwide R&D in the US. However, US MNCs continue to increase their R&D investments in countries such as Brazil, China and India, both reflecting and further contributing to a more globally-distributed R&D landscape. Majority-owned foreign affiliates of US MNCs, for example, tripled their R&D investments in India and more than doubled them in Brazil between 2007 and 2010, nearly reaching the expenditure levels of the US affiliates in China.

One of the most notable S&T trends of the last decade has been the increased innovation capacity of emerging economies. However, the US S&T enterprise still invests twice as much as any other single nation in R&D, despite slipping to tenth in world ranking of the percentage of its GDP it devotes to R&D. In 2011, the US spent $429 billion on R&D, compared to China’s $208 billion and Japan’s $146 billion. Among other S&T metrics, the US still remains the world leader in high quality research publications, patents and income from intellectual property exports.

——

Source: National Research Foundation.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Asian Scientist Magazine is an award-winning science and technology magazine that highlights R&D news stories from Asia to a global audience. The magazine is published by Singapore-headquartered Wildtype Media Group.

Related Stories from Asian Scientist