Wages 51 pc of research and development funding

Salaries and wages account for slightly more than half of research and development funding in this country, new figures show.

Statistics New Zealand yesterday published a report providing greater detail of figures first released in June, which put R&D spending in this country at $1.83 billion in 2006, up 10 per cent from 2004.

The details show that salaries and wages accounted for 51 per cent of total R&D spending, and that they increased 13 per cent in dollar value terms between 2004 and 2006.