Reviewing the Nomenclature for High-Technology - The Sectoral Approach

Abstract

This report reviews the nomenclature on high-technology using the sectoral approach presented by the OECD in 1997. This nomenclature uses the direct and indirect R&D intensities as the sole criteria for the allocation of the industries to one of the four technology levels. In contrast to the calculation of the direct R&D intensities, the calculation of the indirect R&D intensities is not a straightforward task as it implies the identification of the R&D embodied in the intermediate goods needed for the production by a specific industry. The OECD calculated the indirect R&D intensities using the Input-Output tables of the year 1990 from 10 countries. Considering the technological evolutions since 1990 and considering the limited number of countries used for the calculation at that time, an urgent need to review the nomenclature was identified by Eurostat and the Joint Research Centre. The present report gives the definition of high-technology used in the investigation, names the data sources used and pinpoints the limitations found in the data. It describes the calculation process of the direct and indirect R&D intensities using the Input-Output tables of the year 2005 from 25 countries. The results of the calculation are analysed shortly and an outlook on future work is given.