Dutch companies are once again investing more in research and development. In 2017, R&D investments accounted for 4.3% of sales. This is the highest level since 2012, according to figures released by the Erasmus Competition and Innovation Monitor, led by Henk Volberda of RSM. Volberda believes that these are important indicators of technological innovation: "Favourable economic conditions and prospects increase the willingness of organisations to invest in innovation, and the need for this is also relatively large in many sectors".