Welcome to the United Nations
This report analyzes the role of the state in supporting research and development (R&D), as part of state policies towards technological change. The report is a contribution to the ongoing work of the Division for Public Economic and Public Administration on the theme of evolving issues in economic governance. Data for members of the Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD), indicate that, after growing rapidly for at least three decades, total R&D spending expanded slowly in the first half of the 1990s. The decline in defence R&D, and slower growth in other areas of government R&D spending, were important contributions to this overall slowdown. The economic rationale for a role for government in supporting R&D is derived from the contribution of R&D to economic growth, and the existence of substantial market failures in the private provision of R&D, leading to an under investment in R&D. The general rationale for government to support R&D, however, does not always contain specific guidelines for how, and to what extent, this support should occur. There are numerous examples of government policies to foster R&D. The successes of some of these policies can provide guidelines for future initiatives, but work needs to be done to link the rationales more closely with the policies.