Researchers and practitioners have recently paid great attention to research and development(R&D) performance measurement, although it is acknowledged to be a very challenging taskbecause of R&D intrinsic uncertainty and complexity levels. In this paper, the problem ofdesigning a performance measurement system (PMS) for R&D activities is addressed;specifically, we investigate if and how the design of the PMS is influenced by the type ofactivity it is applied to, namely Basic and Applied Research or new product development (NPD).We first develop a theoretical framework that comprises the main constitutive elements of aPMS for R&D. Then the framework is used for supporting a multiple case study analysisinvolving eight Italian technology-intensive firms. The research results show that the criteria fordesigning the constitutive elements of the PMS are radically different in Basic and AppliedResearch and NPD. The reasons behind the observed dissimilarities in the design criteria arewidely discussed in the paper, as well as their implications for R&D managers.