Data Link Project Provides New Insight About the U.S. R&D Activities of Multinational Companies

National Science Foundation, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis link informational surveys for more complete picture of research and development activities

Findings from the Research and Development Data Link Project showed that both parent companies of U.S. multinational companies and U.S. affiliates of foreign multinational companies devoted about three-fourths of their R&D expenditures to development activities in 2007.

This newly developed information is from the Research and Development Data Link Project--a joint project of the National Science Foundation, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In linking surveys from these three agencies, the Data Link Project provided more comprehensive information that was not available from the original surveys. The combined data sets provide detailed information on the R&D activities of U.S. multinational companies and foreign multinational companies with U.S. activities, such as the character of R&D work performed by these companies--basic research, applied research and development.

For more information on this report, please contact Francisco Moris at fmoris@nsf.gov.

Please visit the NSF's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) for more reports and other products.

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