National Economic Resources and the Production of Research in Leaser Developed Countries.

The relationship between national scientific effort, national economic size, and national affluence is investigated. It is found that the relationship between these variables differs substantially for developed countries (DCs) and underdeveloped countries (LDCs). While affluence and economic size jointly correlate highly with levels of scientific effort in DCs, economic size alone correlates strongly with levels of scientific effort in LDCs. It is concluded that so long as LDCs remain underdeveloped economically, the prospects for their establishing strong scientific capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]