Real Investment in R&D Assets 1975-2002 (millions of dollars)
This graph show the expenditure for R & D by the private and public sector in real-cost values using chained (2000) dollars. The data is from the appdenix to the Bureau of Economic Analysis study R&D SATELLITE ACCOUNT: PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES. From the paper's abstract:
This paper presents preliminary estimates of a satellite account on research and development (R&D) for the years 1959–2002 and of the impact that the treatment of R&D as investment would have on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross Domestic Income (GDI). The satellite account allows BEA to evaluate the effects of changing the asset boundary to include R&D as an intangible asset. It provides estimates of R&D in the economy on a funder basis. Final estimates are scheduled to be released in the fall of 2007. This work lays the ground work for incorporating R&D as an asset into the national income and product accounts, a proposal currently under consideration for the internationally accepted standard for national accounts, the System of National Accounts.
You can find out more about this study in a teleconference on October 20 sponsored by the NABE Manufacturing Roundtable, "Preliminary Estimates of R&D’s Role in GDP Growth".