More, from 2007. Again, this includes all R&D, not just “basic” research.
“B Distinguishing between research and development is
important in evaluating the effectiveness of the government’s
R&D spending and the benefits it may provide.
Research (particularly basic research) may be
conducted without a specific commercial purpose in
mind, but it may nevertheless have large “spillovers” in
the economy because the knowledge it produces may
be useful not only to researchers in other fields but
also to businesses seeking to develop new products and
production processes. Development occurs closer to a
product’s introduction so that its benefits go more
directly to innovating firms and their customers. The
federal government funds about half of all research in
the United States but only 17 percent of development. [That’s left to the “private” market, so they can earn a (govt-subsidized!) profit from it. – CAR]
Since the early 1980s, federal spending for research
has grown more steadily and more quickly than federal
spending for development.
B Federal funding of research—particularly of basic
research—is generally viewed favorably because of its
large potential for spillovers and the corresponding
economic benefits. Nonetheless, the economic returns
to basic research are difficult to measure because the
progress that results from research may be hard to
identify or to value and the interval between the
research and its application to a product or process is
sometimes long.”
