EMPLOYMENT AND UTILIZATION OF ENGINEERS AMONG DEFENSE CONTRACTORS

Defense contractors retain engineers for two reasons. First, engineers work on current-period production contracts. Second, engineers conduc t independent research and development (IR&D) and write bids and propo sals (B&P) for future contracts. The amount of IR&D/B&P activity, howe ver, understates the amount of effort devoted to learning that reduces the cost of future production. Even some engineers who work on curren t-period production may engage in learning, as a by-product of their e fforts. This article develops and implements a model for estimating th e volume of learning activity undertaken by four large manufacturers o f military aircraft. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.