Continued Profits Lead to Increased R & D Spending

Sizable profits encouraged major US corporations to continue investing in the future, by sinking a larger percentage of their revenues into R&D last year. The leading 100 US companies increased allotments to R&D by 9%, building on a 15.3% increase in 1995. For 1996, outlays to R&D totaled $81 billion compared with $74.3 billion reported the year before. The rise in spending continues a trend seen in former years before corporations consolidated and downsized, according to the latest annual survey by "Inside R&D" from Technical Insights.