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R&D EXPENDITURE/
JAPAN
source: www.mext.go.jp/english/
org/structu/023.htm
www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/
34/23652608.pdf
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To be an “advanced science-and technology-oriented nation” continuous efforts are needed. The aim is to lead the world through “wisdom”, Japan's most precious resource...- in 2003, Japan total R&D expenditure has been rated at 106,853 US$ million;
- according to the last available comparative data, in 2001, Japan, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland were the only four OECD countries in which the R&D-to-GDP ratio exceeded 3%, well above the OECD average of 2.3%;
- in 2002, R&D expenditure represented 3.12% of the Japanese GDP; while expenditure per capita was 838.4 PPP dollar; (1)
Status of total R&D expenditure in major countries | country | R&D exp.
(million PPP dollar) (1) | Ratio to
GDP (%) | R&D exp.
per capita
(PPP dollar) (1) | | USA (2003) | 284,584.3 | 2.62 | 964.0 | | Finland (2002) | 4,761.1 | 3.46 | 915.4 | | Japan (2002) | 106,838.2 | 3.12 | 838.4 | | Germany (2003) | 54,283.6 | 2.50 | 657.8 | | France (2002) | 36,618.0 | 2.20 | 598.0 | | Korea (2003) | 25,999.7 | 2.45 | 542.8 | | U.K (2002) | 31,037.4 | 1.88 | 524.2 | | China (2002) | 72,014.4 | 1.23 | 55.6 |
Source: OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators, 2004/1
- the business sector financed 74% of the total R&D expenditure (the shares of the business sector in the United States and in the EU25 were, in 2001, 67% and 55% respectively);
- the business enterprises that engaged in research in 2002 numbered 14,300 companies, with the manufacturing industry accounting for the vast majority of these, at almost 77% of all industry types. Within the manufacturing sector, the machinery, electrical machinery, and food industries held the largest shares;
- the government was the source for nearly all R&D expenditures at public organisations in 2002, with private-sector funding accounting for only about 3%. Total R&D expenditures at government research institutions increased by 0.1% over the previous fiscal year (FY);
- based on the Science and Technology Basic Law that was enforced in 1995, the first Science and Technology Basic Plan was adopted in Japan in 1996, and the Second Science and Technology Basic Plan (adopted by the Cabinet) in 2001 targeting FY2001 to FY2005: the total amount of approximately 24 trillion yen (about US$219.55 billion) for the governmental R&D expenditure from FY 2001 to FY 2005 was defined as the goal under certain conditions; (1)
- currently, the Science and Technology Basic Plan is steadily advancing. The accumulated amount of the governmental R&D expenditure by the FY 2004 government budget draft is 17 trillion yen (about US$155.5 billion), and efforts have been continuously put into securing the total amount of 24 trillion yen for the R&D expenditure;
- in April 2004, each national university was transformed into a national university corporation, which will expand the independence of university management, and also will enable flexible human resource management as a result of transformation to the non-civil servants dominated system;
- regarding the reforms and increase of competitive funds that contribute to the establishment of a competitive R&D environment, the total amount is being increased while increasing indirect expenses (296.8 billion yen in 2000 ƒ¤ 360.6 billion yen in the government budget bill for 2004);
- the budget of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for science and technology promotion was 810 billion yen (about US$ 7.4 billion) in 2004, 13.4% of its total budget;
- Japan has the highest number of researchers relative to total employment (10.2 per thousand), followed by the United States (8.6) and the European Union (5.9). While on the other end, Japan is characterised by a very low percentage of women: only 11.2% (compared to 28.4% in Norway, 50.5% in Argentina, and 38% in South Africa!);
- to promote the achievement of excellent research results from universities and returning them to society, many efforts have been put into such activities as reinforcing matching funds that encourage industry-academia-government sector joint research activities and supporting university based startups. At the same time, it is ensured that university intellectual property centers are reinforced and strengthened, and universities are assisted in acquiring patents for research outcomes: - the number of research activities jointly conducted by national universities and companies: 4,029 (2000) ƒ¤ 6,767 (2002); - university based starts-up: 128 (2000) ƒ¤ 614 (2003); - university intellectual property headquarters at universities: 43 (2003);
- by source of funding for R&D expenditures at universities and colleges in FY2002, the government accounted for about 50% of the total. The total R&D expenditures at universities and colleges increased by 1.5%, accounting for about 20% of Japan¡¦s total R&D expenditures;
- today's biotechnology boom has now firmly taken root in Japan as an industrially based development. The biotechnology industry market in Japan in 1999 was just under 1,000 billion yen (about US$9.4 million). For the1987-97 period, it maintained an average growth rate of more than 30% per year. The bio-Industry has forecast that by 2010 the biotechnology market should reach 25,000 billion yen (about US$234 million) based on the fact that the current bio market is roughly 1,000 billion yen and is growing 24% annually;
- today, Japan is currently in the midst of a severe economic crisis. Despite this predicament, the Japanese government has not reduced its expenditure on research, particularly fundamental research. In fact it has done the opposite. It has increased their research expenditure.
Japanese R&D expenditure by sector (100 million yen) | 2002 | % | 2003 | % | 2004 | % | | Life sciences | 3,934 | 19.4 | 4,270 | 20.9 | 4,362 | 20.9 | | Information and Telecommunications | 1,758 | 8.7 | 1,696 | 8.3 | 1,758 | 8.4 | | Environment | 1,006 | 5.0 | 1,099 | 5.4 | 1,175 | 5.6 | | Nanotechnology and Materials | 856 | 4.2 912 | 4.5 | 940 | 4.5 | | Energy | 7,050 | 34.8 | 6,714 | 32.8 | 6,826 | 32.6 | | Manufacturing Technology | 164 | 0.8 198 | 1.0 | 203 | 1.0 | | Infrastructure | 2,554 | 12.6 | 2,561 | 12.5 | 2,836 | 13.6 | | Frontier | 2,953 | 14.6 | 3,029 | 14.8 | 2,814 | 13.5 |
Source: OECD Science, Technology And Industry Outlook 2004.
(1) GDP dollar estimates for all countries are derived from Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) calculations rather than from conversions at official currency exchange rates. The PPP method involves the use of standardised international dollar price weights, which are applied to the quantities of final goods and services produced in a given economy.
(2) This estimation is based on an assumption that the percentage of the governmental R&D investment should be one percentage of the GDP, of which nominal growth rate is 3.5%, during the period of the Second Basic Plan.
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