42 business R&D in new materials and nanotechnology

In 2012, nearly a quarter of firms in France (23%) that carried out R&D in-house incurred R&D expenditure in the fields of new materials or nanotechnology, an increase on the previous year. In the field of new materials, the chemicals industry remained the leading branch in terms of expenditure incurred. R&D in nanotechnology mostly involved small enterprises and was primarily focused on the ‘Manufacture of electronic components and boards’ branch.

In 2012 (semi-finalised data), 23% of firms in France that carried out R&D in-house incurred R&D expenditure in the fields of new materials or nanotechnology. These two fields grew proportionally in terms of the number of firms involved, increasing from 21% to 23% of the total number of firms carrying out R&D in France in one year.

The total R&D expenditure associated with these two fields was around €3 billion for 2012, accounting for 10.3% of all intramural business enterprise expenditure on R&D (BERD), as compared with €2.7 billion in 2011.

More than one in five firms that incurred R&D expenditure in 2012 were involved in R&D in new materials, a proportional increase on 2011 (19%) (table 42.01).

Total R&D expenditure devoted to new materials was €2.3 billion in 2012, representing a 44% increase since 2008. This investment accounted for 22% of all intramural BERD for active firms in 2012. These firms devoted a significant proportion of their expenditure to other fields of research. When expenditure is broken down by industrial branch, the ‘Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products’ continues to take the lead (chart 42.02), accounting for 14% of all R&D expenditure devoted to this field, followed by the ‘Manufacture of electronic components’ (10%). The ‘Manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery’ came in fourth place with less than 8% of expenditure devoted to ‘new materials’, behind the ‘Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products’ (8%).

R&D expenditure in the field of nanotechnology was more modest, totalling €800 million in 2012 (as compared with €670 million in 2011). This field involved nearly 4% of all firms carrying out R&D, representing an increase in comparison with 2011, when it accounted for just over 3% of businesses.

Although it was down slightly in comparison with 2011, the ‘Manufacture of electronic components and boards, computers and peripheral equipment’ branch still accounted for more than 60% of R&D expenditure in the field of nanotechnology. The ‘Manufacture of electronic components and boards, computers and peripheral equipment’ and ‘Manufacture of instruments and appliances for measuring’ branches together accounted for more than two thirds of all R&D expenditure devoted to nanotechnology.

The smaller group of firms dedicated to new materials grew significantly as a proportion of all firms carrying out R&D in terms of the number of people employed in this field. It accounted for 7.5% of the total workforce of firms carrying out R&D in 2012, as compared with 5.5% in 2011. This group still devoted almost all of its gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) – €1.3 billion in 2012 – to new materials. Firms specialising in nanotechnology still only accounted for a very small proportion of the total workforce – barely 2% of those employed by firms that carry out R&D worked in this field. They similarly devoted their entire intramural BERD (€0.3 billion in 2012) to nanotechnology (table 42.01).

32% of active firms in new materials employed 20 or fewer people, as compared with 51% of all firms carrying out R&D and 54% of those active in nanotechnology (chart 42.03). Conversely, half of all businesses active in new materials had at least 50 employees, in contrast to only 30% of all businesses carrying out R&D and 33% of those active in nanotechnology.

These characteristics in terms of the number of employees in each field tended to become more pronounced. The average number of people employed by firms dedicated to new materials increased in 2012 in comparison with 2011 (from 142 to 159), while that of firms dedicated to nanotechnology continued to fall (from 53 in 2011 to 40 in 2012).

Stéphane Montenache