Hey Big Spender: By the Numbers

Nov. 16, 2007

A look at R&D spending in 2006.

The largest corporate research and development spenders picked up the pace of their R&D expenditures in 2006, according to Booz Allen Hamilton. The consulting firm's analysis of the world's top 1,000 public corporate R&D spenders reveals the following

$447 billion R&D spending by the top R&D spenders in 2006

10% increase in R&D spend over 2005

3.8% overall ratio of R&D spend to sales in 2006, equivalent to 2005

29% of R&D spending concentrated in the computing and electronics industry

1.3% increase in R&D spending in 2006 by the automotive industry

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About the Author

Jill Jusko

Bio: Jill Jusko is executive editor for IndustryWeek. She has been writing about manufacturing operations leadership for more than 20 years. Her coverage spotlights companies that are in pursuit of world-class results in quality, productivity, cost and other benchmarks by implementing the latest continuous improvement and lean/Six-Sigma strategies. Jill also coordinates IndustryWeek’s Best Plants Awards Program, which annually salutes the leading manufacturing facilities in North America.

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