There are also strong geographic disparities, with students in the Northeast region - where adult illiteracy is still close to 20% - scoring particularly low on the tests. At a time of consistent growth in Brazil’s output in basic sciences, which reached a 2.02% share of international published articles in 2007, Brazil’s share of the world’s registered patents was only 0.06%. One reason for Brazil’s poor record in convening scientific knowledge into practical results is the country’s low level of investment in R&D. While Brazil dedicates only 0.98% of its gross domestic product (GDP) to research and development investments, the People’s Republic of China invests 1.22%, and Brazilian coiporations, which should be most responsible for creating patents, are investing little in their own research. For instance, the management of managers and senior managers in the federal government of Brazil receives less attention compared to the situation in most OECD member countries.