Linking Frascati-based R&D Spending to the System of National Accounts

摘要

A first step in capitalizing Research and Development (R&D) expenditures is to relate these expenditures as closely as possible to current national accounting conventions. The internationally accepted guidelines for these accounting conventions are found in the System of National Accounts 1993 (hereafter SNA). Internationally comparable data on R&D activity are collected and organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) based on a classification system described in the Frascati Manual (hereafter FM) (OECD (2002)). R&D activity can be more clearly quantified in economic terms by linking the two systems. The primary objective of this paper is to provide that link or bridge. This is accomplished by classifying FM-classified expenditures based on their economic purpose, separating current expenditures from capital formation, and sorting expenditures into the sectors used in the SNA. Additionally, exports and imports of R&D are presented to obtain the component of R&D expenditures that are used domestically. The resulting accounts provide the working definitions and output measures for the creation of satellite accounts for R&D that will produced by BEA in 2006 and 2007.