Industries differ dramatically in R&D intensity

Source: "New Employment Statistics from the 2008 Business R&D and Innovation Survey," Francisco Moris and Nirmala Kannankutty, NSF 10-326, July 2010.

"The proportion of R&D employment relative to total employment, or R&D employment intensity, is one indicator of a company's involvement in R&D activity. Examination of this indicator across the industries into which companies were classified shows that worldwide R&D employment intensity in some industries is much higher than the 7.1% figure for the aggregate of all industries. Scientific R&D services (31%), communications equipment (27%), and computer systems design and related services (25%) top the list (figure 1). These three industries plus semiconductor and other electronic components, software publishers, and pharmaceuticals and medicines accounted for about half of worldwide company-performed R&D expenditures in 2008."

For developing countries to climb the technology pyramid to start producing high tech goods and services, they are likely to have to dramatically increase S&T capacity