Frascati Manual 2015

OECD

• Publisher: OECD
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9789264262089
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Chapter 1. Introduction to R&D statistics and the Frascati Manual

The Frascati Manual has been an international standard for more than fifty years and it is now a world standard. The use of research and experimental development (R&D) statistics, based on the guidance in the manual, has gained influence and the statistics are being used in a wide range of policy areas, and in many countries outside of the OECD. The manual provides the basis for a common language for talking about R&D and its outcomes. In keeping with the extensive use of the manual, and the presence of its definitions in other international manuals and in country regulations, the definition of R&D and its components have been kept close to those in previous editions. More attention has been spent on identifying boundaries between what is and what is not R&D and on meeting new demands on R&D statistics. An example is the decision to treat expenditure on R&D as a capital investment in the System of National Accounts (SNA) and this has required greater attention to the flows of funds for R&D. Tax incentives for R&D performance are widespread and a chapter has been added to cover this. A new chapter has been added to address globalisation and its implications for R&D statistics. To remain current, extensive use is made of online annexes. This chapter introduces the manual.

1.1. Objectives and background of the Frascati Manual

1.1 For more than 50 years, the OECD Frascati Manual has been the acknowledged worldwide standard for collecting and reporting internationally comparable statistics on the financial and human resources devoted to research and experimental development. The co-ordinated efforts among and beyond OECD countries to define and implement the recommendations in this manual have resulted in a valuable source of evidence for science, research and economic policy makers. The definitions provided herein have been adopted and adapted by many governments and serve as a common language for discussions across multiple domains, including those related to science and technology policy, economic development policy, and fiscal, tax and regulatory policy, as well as for the development of guidance on financial accounting, investment and trade statistics, among others.

1.2 Interest in measuring research and experimental development (which in this manual is used interchangeably, but precisely, with the term “R&D”) stems from its potential to make a significant contribution to economic growth and prosperity. The new knowledge resulting from R&D can be used to meet national needs and global challenges and to improve overall societal well-being. Individuals, institutions, economic sectors and countries, both developed and developing, are affected in multiple ways by the outcomes of R&D. Hence, the indicators collected in the framework of the Frascati Manual influence and inform discussions on such important debates.

1.3 From its initial origins, the Frascati Manual has been written by and for national experts who collect and issue national R&D statistics and submit responses to R&D surveys by the OECD, the EU, UNESCO and other international organisations. Although many examples are given, this manual remains a technical document that is intended as a reference work. In the same vein, the Frascati Manual has never been a binding document but instead a set of proposed guidelines discussed at length and agreed upon by consensus. Since the first guidelines were adopted in 1963 by the conference of national experts from OECD member countries in the Italian town of Frascati, this manual had been revised on five previous occasions, to reflect and address known measurement challenges, new user needs and best practices developed worldwide. The process of revision and dialogue with users reflects the capacity for the community of experts that produce this manual to engage in on-going learning.

1.4 Throughout its history, the Frascati Manual has provided the definitions of R&D used in other manuals, and it has been complementary to other manuals that have appeared and now form part of a framework for science, technology and innovation statistics, known as the Frascati “family” of manuals, a body of guidelines in a state of constant and overlapping evolution.

Main objectives of the revision

1.5 This current version represents the outcome of the sixth revision of the Frascati Manual and incorporates major changes in terms of presentation, coverage and collection detail. Major changes, revisions and improvements are highlighted—in a chapter-by-chapter summary—in the second part of this introductory chapter. However, it is important to emphasise at the outset that the definition of R&D presented in Chapter 2 of this manual, while clearer and more precise, is still consistent with the definition of R&D used in the previous edition of the Frascati Manual (OECD, 2002) and is intended to cover the same range of activities. Indeed, every effort was made to minimise the potential need for revisions in major statistical R&D indicator time series. Nonetheless, revisions may be the necessary outcome in the practice of some individual countries, as the steps for convergence with established international guidance become clearer with the revised manual. It is also intended and expected that the clarifications contained in this manual will facilitate the assessment and interpretation by policy makers of official R&D statistics and of R&D figures obtained from complementary accounting, tax, trade and other sources.

1.6 Unlike the more recent revisions to this manual, the changes introduced in this edition appear, and to some degree are, extensive. A number of factors weighed on the decision to expand coverage and increase guidance on the hows, whats and whys of collecting R&D statistics. Several of the more influential factors included the following:

• From its very beginning, this manual has been closely linked to the System of National Accounts (SNA). One major change in the 2008 revision of the SNA was the explicit adoption of Frascati R&D definitions and data as the basis for recommending the treatment of R&D expenditures as capital formation, that is, as investment. This development placed the Frascati Manual firmly within the framework of national statistical accounting standards, but also called for a number of adaptations to facilitate the use of Frascati R&D data by national statisticians. This revision thus considered the feasibility of implementing a number of recommendations laid out in the OECD Handbook on Deriving Capital Measures of Intellectual Property Products (OECD, 2009a). Classification relationships with and data needs for the SNA are introduced in detail in Chapter 3 and then highlighted and clarified throughout this manual.
• The widespread use of this manual for both statistical and policy-related purposes has resulted in repeated calls to clarify concepts, definitions and measurement practices. Quite often these requests reflect conflicting agendas and vested interests. This manual does not presume to take sides on such matters, but rather offers clear guidance on the preferred and recommended definitions and collection methods that should—or can be—universally applied. To that end, it has been necessary on the one hand to expand the manual’s coverage to make R&D statistics relevant for a wider range of policy decisions but on the other hand to provide for as few changes as possible so that there remains stability in the core historical series. Expanded coverage on R&D tax relief in Chapter 13 treated outside of the historical measurement issues of business R&D expenditures is one such example.
• The Frascati Manual is the de facto R&D reference document across countries at different stages of economic development, with varying forms of economic structures and national research systems and with a wide spectrum of statistical infrastructures. In line with the expanding membership of the OECD itself and a major shift towards greater engagement with non-member countries, this manual attempts to provide guidance for identifying and collecting R&D data that is relevant for countries with very diverse economic and research characteristics. A conscious effort has been made to understand the idiosyncratic approaches used by some countries in apparent contradiction with Frascati guidance and to find a more appropriate formulation of the intentions behind the existing guidelines. To that end, this manual introduces individual sector-specific Chapters 7 and 10, which allow for greater granularity in collection guidance than had previously been possible.
• There is mounting recognition of the importance of a variety of ongoing changes in the organisation of R&D activities and the challenges these pose. These changes include R&D’s role in the globalisation of value chains; the adoption of new organisational arrangements that extend beyond the traditional boundaries of individual organisations, sectors or countries; and new approaches to providing financial support for R&D, all of which are giving rise to new user needs as well as calls for data collection practices to be revised and extended. This manual recognises the importance of such developments and to the extent possible offers guidance on how to address these new statistical challenges. For example, there is extensive new material on measuring intramural versus extramural R&D flows in Chapter 4 and internal versus external R&D personnel in Chapter 5. An entirely new chapter (11) on R&D globalisation considerations is introduced in this manual.
• The need to address emerging methodological challenges and opportunities is paramount. On the one hand, general guidance on such matters is of relevance to the collection of all types of economic statistics. On the other hand, the atypical characteristics of R&D both from an activity perspective (a difficult-to-define, often nonexclusive, intangible service) and from a statistical perspective (a rare, highly skewed often non-continuous event) warrant special methodological guidance. There is furthermore the need to take into account new types of uses of R&D data, including causal analysis of the relationship between inputs and outputs, using micro-data, subject to confidentiality constraints, matched with supplementary sources. An expanded Chapter 6 on statistical methodology as well as sector-specific guidance in the individual sector chapte...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Legal and rights
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations and acronyms
• Chapter 1. Introduction to R&D statistics and the Frascati Manual
• PART I. Defining and measuring R&D: General guidance
• PART II. Measuring R&D: Sector-specific guidance
• PART III. Measuring government support for R&D
• ANNEX 1. Brief History and Origins of the Present Manual
• ANNEX 2. Glossary of terms
• Index
• About the OECD