Estimating the Economic Effects of Federal Investment in Research and Development

In recent years, Congress has shown interest in making policy changes that affect research and development (R&D), such as:

• Modifications to federal funding for R&D investment (for example, the CHIPS and Science Act, Public Law 117-167) and
• Modifications to tax provisions that affect the after-tax price of private R&D (for example, the 2025 reconciliation act, P.L. 119-21).

This presentation details CBO's current basis of assessment for modeling the economic effects of changes in federal funding for nondefense R&D, with the goal of eliciting feedback.