Extramural R&D funding by US-located businesses nears $30 billion in 2011

In 2011, U.S.-located companies spent $29.6 billion for extramural (purchased and collaborative) research and development performed by domestic and overseas organizations, according to statistics from the Business R&D and Innovation Survey. This amount includes contract or otherwise purchased R&D ($24 billion) and payments to R&D collaborators ($5.6 billion). Most of these extramural R&D expenditures involve domestic providers and partners.

The amount that U.S.-located companies pay to other U.S.-located organizations for extramural R&D has grown. In 2011, extramural R&D was more than 10 percent of the amount that companies based in the United States spent on their company-funded, company-performed U.S. R&D. Comparable estimates from the Survey of Industrial Research and Development put this ratio under 4 percent in 1991. The growth in the relative size of domestic extramural R&D in the business sector is the result of differing rates of growth in total R&D spending among industries and of changes in the importance of external partners within industries.

Provided by National Science Foundation