Measuring Research and Development Expenditures in the U.S. Economy (2005) / Chapter Skim
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7 Analysis of the R&D Data Funding Discrepancies
7 Analysis of the R&D Data Funding Discrepancies
Pages 139-151
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From page 139... ...
The topside measures of the apparent discrepancy illustrate this problem When NSF collects data from the federal government on the amount that Congress authorizes to be spent on RED (budget authority) that goes to academia and industry, it reports that the federal government has $86.8 billion to spend on RED in fiscal year 2001.
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From page 140... ...
There have been several attempts to disentangle this apparent discrepancy over the past several years (Congressional Research Service, 2000)
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From page 142... ...
The discrepancy could arise from differing concepts, definitions, and interpretations in the data sources; from errors in the administrative reporting of federal funds; from measurement errors in the survey of ROD expenditures at universities and colleges; from sampling and measurement errors in the survey of industrial research and development; or from combinations of these sources of error. It has also been postulated that some of the discrepancy may be attributed to systemic reporting problems arising from the classified nature of some Department of Defense (DoD)
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From page 143... ...
The GAO report concluded that the discrepancy results primarily from annually comparing two separate and distinct types of financial data—federal obligations and performer expenditures—that are not comparable (U.S. General Accounting Of Ice, 2001)
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From page 144... ...
A Congressional Research Service (CRS) study discussed several potential reasons for the phase shift in the gap in industry ROD numbers in the 1990s: acquisitions, mergers, and other structural changes in defense and aerospace industries in the decade; differing interpretations of ROD in the federal government and industry; and partial reporting by industry (Congressional Research Service, 1999, 2000)
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From page 145... ...
. Further on this issue, according to the CRS, DoD officials postulate that corporate mergers have affected continuity of reporting because job losses that accompany the consolidations have often pared individuals in front of rices who had competently completed these surveys in the past (Congressional Research Service,1999)
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From page 146... ...
Although new estimates were prepared for 1991, it is obvious that a good part of the jump of nearly $5 billion in the size of the discrepancy between agency ROD spending and Industry performer reports was attributable to changes an survey design. Some of the increase that year may be due to a one-time dip in DoD ROD spending, probably associated with diversion of ROD funds to support the Persian Gulf war effort, but the fact that the discrepancy continued to grow over the next couple of years, when DoD spending returned to prewar levels, indicates that a long-term shift in the data series indeed occurred.
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From page 147... ...
. However, a subsequent CRS study reported that DoD officials did not agree with the assessment that this was a primary cause, since many of the procurement reforms proceeded the growth in the gap (Congressional Research Service, 1999)
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From page 148... ...
Even when the agency is able to identify the ultimate performer, the multitask contracts may mingle procurement and ROD activities in ways that make it difficult for the ultimate performers to appropriately break down the contract into its procurement and ROD pieces to prepare their NSF report. It has been observed that agencies tend to overreport Intramural funding for federal laboratories, while underreporting ROD funding spent at an industrial or academic institution (Congressional Research Service, 1999, 2000)
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From page 149... ...
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From page 151... ...
. RECONCILING THE ESTIMATES It is tempting to suggest that differences in definitions, time horizons, data collection methodology, and the effect of sampling and measurement errors simply invalidate a direct comparison of federal spending and performer expenditures.
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