Quick Dips

Small Firms Have Key R&D Role

Fully 15% of New Zealand's business research and development (R&D) is done by firms with fewer than 10 staff, according to the latest survey by the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology. Some 42% is done by firms with fewer than 100 staff.

In electrical manufacturing, 83% of the firms doing R&D are small firms, and they carry out 36% of the total R&D in this industry. In the services sector, which includes software, 89% of the firms doing R&D are small and they do 45% of the R&D.

The processing of primary products received most attention from research in the business sector. From 1990 to 1992, research in this area increased by 9%. R&D into materials, industrial processing, engineering and electronics saw the second largest investment, and the infrastructure and services group came third.

There is still some way to go before New Zealand R&D reaches OECD levels, with this country's expenditure reaching 0.90% of GDP; OECD reference countries hit 1.65%. The business sector R&D of 0.31% of GDP is still markedly less than the average of 1.1% for reference countries. Government and university R&D was 0.6% of GDP, compared with 0.7% for reference countries.