8104.0 - Research and Experimental Development, Businesses, Australia, 2001-02  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/08/2003   
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Capital expenditure

Expenditure on the acquisition of fixed tangible assets such as land, buildings, vehicles, plant, machinery and equipment attributable to R&D activity.

Chain volume measures

Annually reweighted chain Laspeyres indexes referenced to the current price values in a chosen reference year (currently 2000-01). They can be thought of as current price values re-expressed in (i.e. based on) the prices of the previous year and linked together to form continuous time series.

Human resources devoted to R&D

The effort of researchers, technicians and other staff directly involved with R&D activity. Overhead staff (e.g. administrative and general service employees such as personnel officers, janitors etc.) whose work indirectly supports R&D, are excluded.

Labour costs

Wages and salaries, overtime allowances, penalty rates, leave loadings, bonuses, commission payments, all paid leave, employer contributions to superannuation and pension schemes, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax, payments to contract staff on the payroll, severance, termination and redundancy payments and workers compensation insurance.

Other current expenditure

Expenditure on materials, fuels, rent and hiring, repairs and maintenance, data processing etc. and the proportion of expenditure on general services and overheads which is attributable to R&D activity.

Other supporting staff

Skilled and unskilled craftpersons, secretarial and clerical staff directly associated with R&D activity.

R&D activity

In the business context is systematic investigation or experimentation involving innovation or technical risk, the outcome of which is new knowledge, with or without a specific practical application, or new or improved products, processes, materials, devices or services. R&D activity extends to modifications to existing products/processes. R&D activity ceases and pre-production begins when work is no longer experimental.

Researchers

Those involved with the conception and/or development of new products/processes (e.g. executives and directors involved in the planning or management of scientific and technical aspects of R&D projects, and software developers/programmers). They exclude executives and directors concerned primarily with budgets and human resources rather than project content.

Research field

Field in which the R&D activity was performed. The Research fields, courses and disciplines classification is primarily structured around disciplines or activities. It describes what research is being performed.

Socio-economic objective

The area of expected national benefit rather than the immediate objectives of the researcher. The Socio-economic objective classification defines the main areas of Australian economic and social activity to which the results of research programs are applied. It describes the purpose of the research (i.e. why the research is being performed).

Technicians

Those performing technical tasks in support of R&D activity, normally under the direction and supervision of a researcher. These tasks include preparation of experiments, taking records, preparation of charts and graphs and coding computer programs.