Factors in American State Government spending on research and development

Abstract

This paper investigates factors that lead state governments in the United States to spend on research and development and research and development plant. Data come from a national survey of such spending. Regression analysis is used. Findings include the following: the relative wealth of a state, as measured by its tax capacity, predicts some of such spending; the level of a state's taxation, as measured by its tax effort, predicts some of such spending; and the political party composition of a state predicts some of such spending. By contrast, a state's economic difficulty, as measured by its unemployment rate, has almost no relationship to such spending.