R&D Intensity in the Austrian Business Sector. Development and Structure Between 1998 and 2004 Compared to Other OECD Countries

The Austrian business R&D intensity has experienced a very rapid rise over the past decade. We compare this development to trends in other countries in the OECD area by using a structural decomposition method that allows splitting business R&D intensity into a structural component reflecting the national technological specialisation profile, and a pure country effect reflecting the structurally adjusted R&D performance of the business sector in each country. It is shown that the technological specialisation profile determines the aggregate business R&D intensity to a considerable extent. This calls for developing a better understanding of the factors that lead to specialisation in R&D-intensive industries, rather than focusing on efforts to increase R&D intensity in existing industries.