Suchergebnisse

The economic implications of innovative technology transfers into Third World industries are assessed. Two basic transaction types are evaluated: (1) where the innovation resides in the manufacture of the machine(s) in question ("machine maker" transfers), & (2) where the innovation is appropriated by the firm using the machines to make the final product ("machine user" transfers). Vertical integration analysis is used to hypothesize the impact of each transfer on competitive & monopolistic markets. Findings indicate no preference in terms of comparative static analysis; ultimately, preference is determined by the transfer's international distribution effects & its ease of control through government policy. Appendix. Modified HA.

The argument that appropriate technologies may more easily achieve income distribution objectives is challenged in the light of the political realities, the problems of extraeconomic factors, & social organization in the underdeveloped countries. The failure to be systematic about questions of political economy will lead to simplistic recommendations about technology policies & not to a 'cure' for problems of unemployment & maldistribution of income. The tendency has been to take account of social & economic organization when working out why certain techniques are used & what consequences they have, but to sidestep the problems of political economy when proposals are made about how to get a more "appropriate" choice of techniques. The real problem, then, is how should the government act in an economy where there is private ownership in the means of production, so that entrepreneurs will make 'better' choices from the social point of view. An additional point raised is concerned with science policy, & policies towards technical change in the underdeveloped countries. Using as examples the setting up of a Scientific & Technical Council in Turkey, 1960, & comments on the engineering faculty at the U of Nairobi, Kenya, it is shown that in the Turkish situation there is very little for the scientific community to do as far as industrial technology is concerned; such expertise being supplied by foreign enterprise. In the Kenya situation, the research being done has no relation to the needs of this underdeveloped country. E. Loomis.