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Researchers
Researchers are the central element of the research and development system. In 2002, approximately 3.6 million persons in the OECD area were employed in research and development and approximately two-thirds of these were engaged in the business sector.
Definition
Researchers are defined as professionals engaged in the conception and creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems as well as those who are directly involved in the management of projects. They include researchers working in both civil and military research in government, universities, research institutes as well as in the business sector.
Comparability
The number of researchers is expressed in full-time equivalent (FTE) on R&D (i.e. a person working half-time on R&D is counted as 0.5 person-year) and includes staff engaged in R&D during the course of one year. The data have been compiled on the basis of the methodology of the Frascati Manual, but comparability over time is affected to some extent by improvements in the coverage of national R&D surveys and efforts by countries to improve the international comparability of their data.
For the United States, the total researchers figure for 2000-2002 is an OECD estimate, and data since 1985 exclude military personnel.
Data for Brazil and India are not completely according to Frascati Manual guidelines, and were compiled from national sources. Data for Brazil and South Africa are underestimated, as are the data for China before 2000.
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Long-term trends In 2002, there were about 6.9 researchers per thousand employees in the OECD area, compared with 5.8 per thousand in 1992. The number of researchers has steadily increased over the last two decades. Among the major OECD regions, Japan has the highest number of researchers relative to total employment, followed by the United States and the European Union. Finland, Japan, New Zealand and Sweden have the highest number of research workers per thousand persons employed. Rates are also high in the United States, Denmark and Norway. Research workers per thousand employees are low in Mexico, Turkey, Italy and the Czech Republic. Among the major non-member countries, growth has been steady in China, although, at 1.2 in 2004, it still remains well below the OECD average. The rate for the Russian Federation has been falling since 1994, but was still above 7 researchers per thousand employed in 2004. |
Source
- OECD (2006), Main Science and Technology Indicators, OECD, Paris.
Further information
Analytical publications
- OECD (2005), OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard, OECD, Paris.
Statistical publications
- OECD (2006), OECD Science, Technology and R&D Statistics on CD-ROM, OECD, Paris.
Methodological publications
- OECD (2003), Frascati Manual 2002: Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development, OECD, Paris.
Websites
- OECD Measuring Science and Technology, www.oecd.org/sti/measuring-scitech.
- OECD Science, Technology and Industry, www.oecd.org/sti.
- OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard, www.sourceoecd.org/scoreboard.
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