A survey of the 100 biggest corporate spenders in research and development in the U.S. shows that they spent 10.7% more on R&D in 1988 than they did the year before. Inside R&D, a newsletter published in Englewood, N.J., by Technical Insights Inc., says that the biggest increase in spending was by Sun Microsystems Inc., which more than doubled its R&D effort, followed by Genentech Inc.’s 65.1% boost. The most massive R&D was led by General Motors which last year spent nearly $4.8 billion on its scientists. In general, Inside R&D says, computer and pharmaceutical companies showed the most rapid growth. The newsletter added that corporate R&D needed the big increases just to keep up with the pace of corporate sales. Among the top 100, R&D actually dropped from 3.97% of sales in 1987 to 3.82% last year.
The General Accounting Office, reading to four recent proposals, has advised Congress ...
