The 2010 EU Industrial RD Investment Scoreboard

摘要

This 2010 "EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard" (the Scoreboard) presents information on the world's top 1400 companies ranked by their investments in research and development (R&D). It contains data drawn from the latest available companies' accounts, i.e. the fiscal year 2009 . These are 400 companies based in the EU and 1000 companies based elsewhere. The global economic and financial crisis that started in 2008 and hit companies worldwide is fully reflected in the company accounts used for the 2010 Scoreboard. This was not the case for last year's edition where only the first effects were visible in indicators like sales, profits and market valuation while R&D investment growth continued, due to the normal operational lag of R&D activities. The 2010 Scoreboard shows the effects of the economic downturn on company financial results and input indicators such as R&D and fixed capital investments. The analysis compares R&D investment figures with the evolution of net sales and profits and highlights the different effects and trends across individual companies, sectors and regions and, makes comparisons with the previous downturn in 2002-2003. Despite an overall downtown in R&D investments, a number of companies continue to increase R&D investments as a way to strengthen their competitive position in preparation for the upturn.