In the context of globalization, compare and contrast the various research and development trends across the world.

Answers will vary. Historically, international companies conducted their research and development (R&D) at their corporate headquarters and pushed the products they invented there to the rest of the world. Over the past decade, this strategy has changed in two ways. First, international companies are spending more money on R&D. Second, they have moved R&D to locations around the world, particularly China and India.
When looking at R&D trends, most analyses focus on the level of gross expenses on research and development (GERD). For instance, total worldwide GERD in 2001 was just $753 billion. Five years later, in 2006, it had ticked up to $1.05 trillion, and in 2011, the amount passed $1.43 trillion-nearly double the 2001 figure. The trend has accelerated, with GERD toping $1.88 trillion in 2015. At that level, roughly 1.75 percent of world GDP is being spent on R&D. Of that, over $1.80 trillion is being spent by the top forty countries ranked by GDP. The United States represents more than 26 percent of global spending, China accounts for over 20 percent, and Japan comes in third with nearly 9 percent of worldwide R&D spending.
While the amount of R&D spending is increasing everywhere, it is growing most rapidly in Asia, as global companies rush to fill the needs of the world's largest markets-China and India. A recent National Science Foundation report highlights this increase, noting that, while R&D spending is increasing in the United States and the European Union, the increase is proportional to increases in the countries' GDP. In Asia, on the other hand, R&D is increasing at a rate faster than the growth of GDP.
Private businesses, governments, higher education institutions, and private nonprofit donors typically invest in R&D. In the United States, nearly 70 percent of R&D is funded by businesses; that's less than the 83 percent in Israel but much more than the 36 percent funded by businesses in India. Perhaps more interesting is the nearly universal increase in business-sponsored funding, indicating that global businesses are recognizing the competitive advantages that come from being at the forefront of technology.
The section "The Globalization of Research and Development" on page 203 discusses the various research and development trends across the world. Students can use this section to make their own interpretation and answer this question.