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U.S. Still King of World Science & Technology

The United States continues to be the leading source of newly patented inventions compared with the EU and Asia.

Despite the growing belief that it has lost its edge, the U.S. is still the 800-pound gorilla in science and technology worldwide, according to a new RAND Corporation report.

The United States accounts for 40 percent of the total world’s spending on scientific research and development, employs 70 percent of the world’s Nobel Prize winners and is home to 75% of the world’s top 40 universities.

A steady flow of foreign students in the sciences has allowed the U.S. to build and maintain its worldwide lead, even as many other nations increase their spending on research and development. Continuing this flow of foreign-born talent is critical to helping the United States maintain its lead.

“Much of the concern about the United States losing its edge as the world’s leader in science and technology appears to be unfounded,” said Titus Galama, a RAND researcher and one of the report’s authors.

Asia’s patenting activity is growing rapidly, however, especially in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

In the past few years, U.S. investments in research and development have more than kept pace with other countries, but instead have grown at rates similar to what has occurred elsewhere in the world — rising faster than both Europe and Japan. While China is investing heavily in research and development, it only accounts for a small share of world innovation and scientific output.

Although the European Union and China award more university degrees in science and engineering every year than the United States, a steady stream of foreign students, scientists and engineers has allowed the U.S. technology workforce to grow faster than it would with home bred talent alone.

But a recent reduction in the number of skilled immigrant visas issued annually could cut the number of foreign science and engineering workers in the U.S., leading U.S. companies to outsource more research and development to foreign countries and locate new facilities overseas. Ironically, this could reduce investment and employment at home rather than the opposite. In recent years, about 70 percent of the foreign scientists and engineers who receive advanced degrees from U.S. universities remained in the U.S.

The full report is available here . . .