A Proposed Cost Index of Research and Development

Measured in current dollars, total R and D expenditures have increased from slightly more than $5 billion in 1953-1954 to $12½ billion in 1959-1960. These figures indicate increasing effort, but also reflect changes in the purchasing power of the dollar. The OESS of NSF is now constructing a cost index to reflect trends in changing prices and costs. An index should take account of cost changes in an identical ``mix'' of R and D purchases. Other aspects that need to be taken into account are price changes for identical goods and services and selection of representative items for the index. An initial study has been undertaken in cooperation with the U. S. Department of the Army in preparing a cost index for Army R and D.