Death of R&D

I think I read this before.

Fortune writer Chris Matthews penned this article on the decline and death of U.S. R&D in corporate America. He is very persuasive. His article is is well researched and documented. His example of DuPont is actually quite telling.

Frankly, I have a few disagreements.  First, one of his measurements is the number of papers published in scientific journals.  While he sees this a potential indicator, I think it can be argued that as a corporate manager, I am not necessarily interested in publishing papers that do not add value and why potentially give my competition any insights as to what the company focus is.

I realize that the last one might seem odd or even unrealistic, but as a practicing economic developer, I continually see executives in firms reluctant to provide specific capital investment data, number of projected employees, and, average wages or total payroll when asked. They would rather provide ranges.  Generally the reason given to me is that they do not want their competitors to know potential trade secrets or gain competitive intelligence.  I actually understand this line of reasoning.  In fact, I have no reason to doubt their intentions.

Second, I think corporate R&D will continue and likely flourish for the simple reason that it is a differential when facing increased competition.  What will change and continue to do so is the type of research. I suspect we may see less basic research and more applied research (how do we enhance an existing product).

However, I think Mr. Matthew's warning is certainly worth monitoring.  If this trend continues, then perhaps the next question should be what steps should the U.S. government and states take to encourage more R&D?

http://fortune.com/2015/12/21/death-american-research-and-development/