Investing in innovation (英国国家科技艺术基金会 (NESTA))

Indexreport:July2010InvestingininnovationFindingsfromtheUKInvestmentinIntangibleAssetSurveyGagananAwano(ONS),MarkFranklin(ONS),JonathanHaskel(ImperialCollege)andZafeiraKastrinaki(ImperialCollege)2NESTAistheNationalEndowmentforScience,TechnologyandtheArts.OuraimistotransformtheUK’scapacityforinnovation.Weinvestinearly-stagecompanies,informinnovationpolicyandencourageaculturethathelpsinnovationtoflourish.InvestingininnovationFindingsfromtheUKInvestmentinIntangibleAssetSurveyForewordNESTA’sInnovationIndexhasshownthatinnovationisthemostimportantsourceofeconomicgrowthintheUK,andoffersthebestrouteoutofrecession.ThisreportmakesasubstantialcontributiontotheevidencebaseofUKbusinessinnovation,identifyinginunprecedenteddetailtheinvestmentsthattheymakeinintangibleassetsfromR&Dtoorganisationalinnovation,andtheusefullifeoftheseinvestments.TheresultswillmakeanimportantcontributiontotheInnovationIndex,andsowillincreaseourunderstandingofwhatdriveseconomicgrowthintheUKandhowtocreatetherightconditionsforrecovery.ThesurveyhasbeendesignedandadministeredbytheOfficeforNationalStatisticsandImperialCollegeLondon,forwhosecontributionandinsightweareextremelygrateful.Asalways,wewelcomeyoucomments.StianWestlakeExecutiveDirectorofPolicyandResearch,NESTAJuly,2010ExecutivesummaryTosupporttheworkonintangibleassetsandproductivitywithinNESTA’sInnovationIndexproject,thispaperreportsonanewmicrosurveyofintangibleassets.Thesurveyof2,004UKprivatesectorfirmsexploredthelevelof(a)spendingand(b)lifelengthsofprivatesectorinvestmentsinintangibleassets.ThesurveydrawsonastatisticallyrepresentativesampleofUKprivatesectorfirms,usingtheUKbusinessregister,andwasconductedbetweenOctober2009andJanuary2010.Thisisanewsurvey,andithasthreemaininnovativefeatures.First,aswellasaskingaboutR&Dexpenditure,thesurveyaskedfirmstodetailexpenditureonawiderrangeofspendingonintangibles:training,software,branding,designandbusinessprocess.Second,sincemuchspendingonintangiblesisin-house,thesurveyspecificallyasksfirmsaboutbothpurchasedandin-housespending.Third,toestimatedepreciationratesforintangibles,thesurveyalsoaskedaboutthelengthoftimefirmsexpectedtobenefitfromsuchspending.Theworkisthereforedistinctivefromothersurveys,thebulkofwhichdonotaskforallintangibles,butjustone,suchasR&Dordesign.WiththesurveytheprojectteamcanexaminehypothesessuchasthoseinGriliches(1990),1whoconjecturesthatotherinnovationspending,notcountedasR&D,islikelyimportant,especiallyforsmallfirms.Themainsurveythatdoestouchonintangiblesis(variousversions)oftheCommunityInnovationSurvey(CIS).However,theCISdoesnotaskaboutallintangiblecategories(businessprocessesforexample),doesnotaskspecificallyaboutin-houseandpurchased(adistinctionwefindtobeveryimportant),anddoesnotlookatlifelengths.Ontheissueoflifelengths,tothebestofourknowledge,theonlysurveyweareawareofisthatoftheIsraeliStatisticsBureau(Peleg2008a,2008b).2Thedistinguishingfeaturesofthesurveythereforeprovidesomeinnovativemicroinformationtobothinformanalysisatthemicrolevelandtoprovideacheckagainsttheestimatesusedatthemacrolevel.TheInvestmentinIntangibleAssets(IIA)SurveywasavoluntarypostalsurveyfundedbytheNationalEndowmentforScienceTechnologyandtheArts(NESTA)andconductedbytheOfficeforNationalStatistics(ONS).Weobtainedresponsesfrom838firms,a42percentratewhichishighforavoluntarysurvey.WeightswerecalculatedfromtheUKbusinessregister.Thestudyhastwomainsetsoffindings,concerningintangiblespendingandlifelengths.1.Intangiblespending:incidenceandamount.a.Theincidenceofnon-R&DintangiblespendingismuchmorewidespreadthanR&Dspend.EightpercentofUKfirmsspendonR&D,allofwhomalsospendonnon-R&Dintangiblespending.But50percentofUKfirmsspendonnon-R&Dassets.b.Theincidenceofbothnon-R&DandR&Dintangiblespendismorecommoninlargeandolderfirms.Butnon-R&Dspendismuchmorecommoninservicesrelativetomanufacturing,especiallyinfinancialservices.Thusmuchoftheincidenceofinnovationspendingin31.Griliches,Z.(1990)PatentStatisticsasEconomicIndicators:ASurvey.‘JournalofEconomicLiterature.’Vol.28,pp.1661-1707.2.Peleg,S.(2008a)‘ServicelivesofR&D.’Jerusalem:CentralBureauofStatistics;also:Peleg,S.(2008b)‘ExamplesofsurveysonservicelivesofR&D.’OECDTaskForceonR&DandOtherIntellectualPropertyProducts.Paris:OECD.theservicesector,amajorpartoftheeconomy,isnotcapturedintheR&Dstatistics.c.Theoveralllevelofintangiblespendisconsiderable,around£39billioninthissurvey,ofwhichsoftwareisabout£11billion,branding£10billion,R&D£10billion,training£7billionanddesignandbusinessprocessimprovement£1billioneach.In-housespendingis,onaverage,55percentofthisandpurchased45percent.Spendingasafractionofturnover(spendingintensity)isparticularlyhighinfinancialservicesandsomewhatweaklyhigherinsmallfirms.d.Takingintoaccountdifferencesindefinitionandtiming,thesemicronumberscomparequitecloselywiththenumbersusedinthemacrostudyfortheUKInnovationIndex(Haskeletal.,2009)3fortraining,software,R&Dandbranding.Themicronumbersherearemuchlowerthanthoseinthemacrodatafordesignandbusinessprocessimprovement.Thismayhavetodowithsampling(forexampleaccordingtotheDesignCounc