Studies of the Relationship Between International Technology Transfer and R and D Expenditures by U.S. Firms

摘要

The final report is composed of three main parts. A paper entitled 'Foreign Trade and U.S. Research and Development', considers questions concerning (1) the percentage of the total returns from U.S. firms' research and development projects stemming from foreign markets or foreign utilization; (2) the extent U.S. research and development expenditures would decline if U.S. firms could not utilize various channels to transfer and exploit their technology abroad; (3) the relation of characteristics of a firm's research and development portfolio to the extent of its foreign sales; and (4) the extent U.S. research and development firms actually do use various channels (foreign subsidiaries, exports, licensing, joint ventures) to transfer their technology abroad. A paper entitled 'Overseas Research and Development by U.S.-Based Firms' examines the minimum economic scale for an overseas laboratory, the types and value of laboratory work performed overseas by U.S. firms, the amount of overseas expenditures in the past, present, and future, and a cost comparison of performing research and development work in the U.S. and overseas. Sample questionnaires provide an example of how the basic data were obtained in these studies.