English Reading Practice - 0007 R&D

Investments in research and development (R&D) have increased productivity, boosted economic growth, generated new products and processes, and improved the quality of people's lives. The possibility of profiting from a new product or process frequently leads businesses to invest ㉠ amounts of money in research and development. However, private investors cannot capture many of the benefits of their R&D spending, as the knowledge it produces may be used by others; consequently, the private sector may ㉡ to make some investments that have positive social, or economic, returns—gains for society and for the economy as a whole. To address that problem of incentives and encourage more R&D investment, the government uses several policy tools, including appropriated spending for R&D activities, tax preferences for private sector research and development, and protection of intellectual property through the copyright and patent systems.