ABSTRACT
Japanese government laboratories devote a little over a fourth of their expenditures to basic research (MCA 1996:192). Since basic scientific research takes place at government life science laboratories, we can ask about careers and the nature of credit cycle dynamics there as well. Government laboratories in Japan do conduct less basic research activity than universities, however. Government laboratory researchers polled in a 1990 study devoted one third less of their time to basic research than their counterparts in public universities (IFT 1990: 50). The difference reflects institutional supporters' agendas; just as universities must blend research with teaching functions, government laboratories must relate to decision makers who want answers for questions of policy, and to constituencies who seek applications with tangible returns. That certainly means more applied research and development activity for the Food Research Institute as well.
