Measurement of technology for national development

Developing countries wish to achieve in a few decades what the developed countries accomplished in many centuries under conditions of relatively lesser resource constraints. Therefore, the developing countries cannot emulate the evolutionary experiences of the developed countries; they need a revolutionary approach in their development strategies. One plausible option for this revolutionary orientation could be the utilization of a technology-based strategy for national development planning. This article proposes undertaking certain measurement activities with respect to the technological system of a country, which would enable national decision makers to use technology as a strategic variable for socioeconomic development. The article briefly describes the role of technology as the master key for sustainable development, discusses the current activities related to the measurement of technology, presents a few conceptual schemes, and a framework for the assessment of national technological capabilities and needs.     

A model of “coupled” technology transfer : A logistic curve approach

This article presents a mathematical model relating to the technology transfer problem. The origin of the problem stems from the existing trade-offs between the strategies of “technological progressiveness” and “static efficiency” employed by firms or countries defined as “leaders” and “followers,” respectively. The formulation of the model is based on the assumption that the technological development of a firm or a country follows a logistic growth curve when related to a specific technology. During the process of a “coupled” technology transfer, the development of the follower changes and its behavior is described by a first order nonhomogenous deferential equation. Different scenarios of the “coupled” technology transfer between the leader and the follower are being discussed.     

A historical investigation of the geography of innovative activities

Research and development activities, as well as all other economic activities, do not occur in a spaceless economy, but are related to particular geographical areas. This paper investigates to what extent technological activities have a tendency to concentrate in centres of excellence or to diffuse across many countries. A framework for the identification of different technological trends is created. The main findings of this paper show the existence of four different technological trends, two of them connected to the characteristics of the national system of innovation of countries and the other two related to the particular features of technology.     

外包与技术转移:基于发展中国家异质性模仿的分析

本文构建了一个模型来研究外包以及依附于外包活动中的技术转移,对发展中国家经济发展的多重影响效应.我们的研究表明,在发展中国家为低模仿类型时,外包活动中发达国家对发展中国家的技术转移,有利于发达国家与发展中国家双方的福利增进;在发展中国家为高模仿类型时,技术转移有利于发达国家,而不利于发展中国家可持续发展能力的培育.我们的研究支持这样一种观点:外包条件下发达国家对发展中国家的技术转移,并不必然会带来发展中国家的经济可持续增长,一个不可忽略的必要条件是,发展中国家自身制度条件制约了外包与技术转移对发展中国家可持续发展能力的作用.     

R&D efficiency and heterogeneity – a latent class application for the OECD

Expenditures devoted to research and development (R&D) are scarce and thus need to be used as efficiently as possible given the financial constraints countries are facing. This article assesses the relative efficiency of R&D expenditures for 26 OECD member countries and two nonmember countries. As countries differ in their national innovation systems and states of economic development and industrialization, e.g. transition economies in Eastern Europe versus Asian countries versus Anglo-Saxon countries, the measurement of R&D efficiency needs to consider differences in the technology of knowledge production. By means of a latent class model for stochastic frontiers, we relax the assumption of a homogeneous technology frontier and model technological differences in knowledge production among countries. Empirical evidence suggests the existence of different classes stressing the importance of accounting for countries’ disparities within R&D efficiency analysis.     

新疆财政科技投入的反思与对策——基于跨越式发展视角

欠发达地区实施跨越式发展必须依靠科技革命的推动以及制度的实质性创新,而科技进步必须进行相应的科技投入。在既有的科技投入主体中,财政科技投入是科学研究和技术创新活动的重要基础,是决定地方科技进步的源动力,在落后地区尤其如此。新疆实现跨越式发展已经上升为国家战略,其核心是转变新疆经济发展思路,籍科技水平的提高来提高整体产业竞争力。本文检验了新疆财政科技投入与新疆区域经济发展的因果关系,发现新疆的财政科技投入与经济增长之间存在着单向因果关系。即经济的发展对财政科技投入促进作用十分明显,而财政科技投入对经济发展的促进作用不明显。没有出现＂科技投入→科技进步→经济增长→科技投入→科技进步→经济增长＂的良性循环机制。基于此,在举国科技援疆之际,新疆应该积极改善科技投入机制,实现科技投入和经济发展的良性互动。     

Measurement of technology content added

Current measurement activities generally focus their attention on the measurement of inputs and outputs of the science and technology system of a country (particularly the research and development activities). However, very little attention has been paid to the evaluation of the technological transformation activities which are really the key actors in converting natural resources into produced resources. The lack of emphasis on such an evaluation and an overwhelming dependence on certain classical indicators has often led to debatable conclusions. The classical indicators, while serving very useful purposes, may be regarded as being inadequate in their reflection of the level of technological development in a manner analogous to the inadequacies shown by the “gross national product per capita” in measuring national development. This paper proposes that a methodology to evaluate a transformation facility from the technological point of view would be of value in overcoming some of the inadequacies of current technology measurement activities. The procedure presented here considers the four basic components of technology (Technoware; Humanware; Inforware; Orgaware) as the key factors of production and proposes a scheme for the measurement of the “technology content added” at a transformation facility by these four components. An illustrative example is provided, and the policy implications of such an analysis are also outlined.     

Technology Foresight Activities in Korea and in Countries Closing the Technology Gap

This article discusses technology foresight in selected countries which were politically dependent (colonial) before World War II and considered as “under-developed” in the post-war period. Most of them show considerable economic dynamism in the 1990s, which is not always based on their own scientific and technological capability. For this group of countries, national exercises in technology foresight are likely to be an important tool in planning the strategic direction for science and technology development in order to catch up economically as well as socially. In Korea, which has recently become an OECD member, comparative advantage based on factors such as low wages and protected industries are no longer effective as the economy is now wide open to the world. Foresight is being used to look at comparative advantages based on Korea’s own knowledge-creating activities. In southeast Asian countries, foresight is still in an infant stage, but most of these have medium-term planning cycles and have undertaken longer-term vision studies. In South Africa, a national foresight project is running, as is an adapting foresight process to make the large national research organization fit. In Latin America, an agenda has been set up which indicates the desire of several countries to engage in foresight activities using different approaches.     

Challenging the human crisis: “The trilemma”

The great increase in world population in the coming century will result in a human crisis of worldwide proportions. A new concept for describing and proposing solutions to this crisis, called the Trilemma, is described by the authors. To feed large and growing populations, humankind is now being forced to make the difficult choice between producing sufficient food for the world population and preserving the environment, or generating economic growth, requiring the consumption of energy and natural resources. These difficult choices present the Trilemma, a new concept that is composed of three dimensions: economic growth, resources such as energy and food, and the environment. None of these three dimensions can be optimized individually as they are mutually interdependent.This paper describes a possible world energy condition in the 21st century. Three scenarios of this energy consumption are presented and compared with the possible energy supply at that time. This supply is estimated from the extrapolation of the renewable energy development of the past and the possible fossil fuel supply. The comparison of the energy supply and the energy consumption indicates that the annual rate of economic growth in the developed region would be only 1% if the gross national product (GNP) per capita of the developing region increases gradually from 1/26 of the GNP of the developed regions in 1990, to 1/10 in 2020, and finally to 1/3 in 2100.Another possibility is that if the GNP per capita of the developing region remains 1/26 of the GNP of the developed regions between 1990 and 2100, the economic growth rate in the developed region could be as large as 3%. In the latter case, an energy shortage would develop in the middle of the 21st century, even if the fast breeder reactor were fully operational by the year 2030. Energy technological developments in Japan are also described as a part of the possible countermeasures against the Trilemma.     

Project evaluation framework for industrial technology capacity enhancement

There is an increasing trend for interconnections between all nations of the world owing to the widespread globalization of industrial production, inputs sourcing and outputs marketing. A further reason is the raised awareness of global consequences, resulting from natural resources depletion and apparently localized environmental degradation activities by industries. Much of this ever-growing and complex interdependence has been possible as a result of a host of unprecedented technologial achievements in the past few deades, which have enabled industrial enterprises in developed countries to accomplish an increased degree of flexibility, through automated manufacturing, to combine economies of sale, through process standardization, with economies of scope, through product differentiation, and to acheive quicker response times to customers7apos; prefernces and market demands. Simultaneously, in most developing countries, there is also an observable undercurrent of deregulation, privatization or corporatization, and open international market competition for industrial development. In this present era of new internationalism, technology management has become one of the main strategic priorities, because it provides the vital factor underpinning the survival and prosperity of industrial enterprises everywhere. Hence, given the recognition that the key competitive advantage in the international market-place nowadays is the ability of an enterprise continuously to introduce technological innovations faster than others, the need for endogenous technology capacity building can hardly be overmphasized. This paper presents a general framework for the development of a set of technology indicators which could be useful for assesing industrial investment projects funded by an international or national development finance institutino. The framework attempts to integrate business and technology strategies particularly in the context of developing countries. Starting with consideration of the unique characteristics of technolgoy at the firm level, and using a systems analysis approach to the market structure, possible strategic mixed are determined by considering four business stratetgies—price, value, niche and green leadership—and four technology strategies—technology leader, follower, exploiter and extender. The necessary considerations for a technological capability enhancement and palusible technology strategy rogression path are also discussed for different development conditions. The analytical measures presented in this paper are focused on such important aspects as the degree of technology component sophistication, the level of technology capability advancement, the status of technology infrasturcture building, and the dynamism of technology climate, all of which could be used for investment project review and appraisal undertaken by iunternational and national development finance institutions.     

基于多重制度逻辑的国际技术转移新态势探析

国际技术转移是创新要素在国家间流动的重要方式，事关国家创新发展与安全。有别于一般市场交易活动，国际技术转移受各类制度因素的影响更为显著。基于制度逻辑，从国家竞争、科技发展、社会进步和市场主体方面构建国际技术转移多维分析框架，发现国际技术转移呈现出一些新特征：越来越受国际政治与经济局势影响，国家安全成为影响国际技术转移的重要因素；各类国际科技竞争使国际技术转移复杂化，而科技合作则有效促进国际技术转移；气候、能源和健康领域的技术转移受到广泛关注；产业升级给国际技术转移带来新需求。进一步分析我国国际技术转移的制度进展，以期为我国更好地开展国际技术转移活动提供有益参考。     

Conditional factors Pushing catch-up across developed and emerging countries in the nanotechnology sector, 2000–2010

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to test national and sectorial technological and innovation capability factors, as well as social capability indicators, which could explain a possible conditional convergence across countries in nanotechnology within the context of a model of innovative technological knowledge β convergence. Based on growth convergence models, our proposal also takes into account the Schumpeterian theory, the National System Innovation –NSI– approach, and particularly the sectorial system of innovation and the technological catch-up hypothesis, as well as theoretical and empirical literature on conditional convergence. The findings allow us to confirm that new nanotechnology knowledge convergence is conditioned by a higher growth rate of technological capabilities in nanotechnology: growth from the initial level of patents granted, cumulative knowledge, and links to technological and scientific activities. Finally, as regards social capabilities, only the institutional weakness variable (corruption index) associates negatively with β convergence. As an emergent paradigm, we realize that convergence and catch-up are starting processes, which could allow less technologically developed countries to benefit from higher growth of some of the factors identified.     

美日欧发展高新技术产业的比较研究

在全球竞争目益激烈的背景下,美日欧不断调整完善科技创新战略,加强重点领域研发,大力发展高新技术产业,培育新的经济增长点,以便在竞争中占据有利地位。通过从九大方面,包括产业发展战略模式、产业发展重点领域、法律保障、科技管理体制、科技投入、产学研合作模式、政府在科技成果转化和商业化中的作用、技术创新财税支持政策、科技人才政策等,对美日欧发展高新技术产业进行分析和比较．以期了解美日欧在发展高新技术产业中的做法和特点,使我国在发展高新技术产业中有所借鉴。     

Technological collaboration: problems and pitfalls

There is an increasing trend for interconnections between all nations of the world owing to the widespread globalization of industrial production, inputs sourcing and outputs marketing. A further reason is the raised awareness of global consequences, resulting from natural resources depletion and apparently localized environmental degradation activities by industries. Much of this ever-growing and complex interdependence has been possible as a result of a host of unprecedented technologial achievements in the past few deades, which have enabled industrial enterprises in developed countries to accomplish an increased degree of flexibility, through automated manufacturing, to combine economies of sale, through process standardization, with economies of scope, through product differentiation, and to acheive quicker response times to customers7apos; prefernces and market demands. Simultaneously, in most developing countries, there is also an observable undercurrent of deregulation, privatization or corporatization, and open international market competition for industrial development. In this present era of new internationalism, technology management has become one of the main strategic priorities, because it provides the vital factor underpinning the survival and prosperity of industrial enterprises everywhere. Hence, given the recognition that the key competitive advantage in the international market-place nowadays is the ability of an enterprise continuously to introduce technological innovations faster than others, the need for endogenous technology capacity building can hardly be overmphasized. This paper presents a general framework for the development of a set of technology indicators which could be useful for assesing industrial investment projects funded by an international or national development finance institutino. The framework attempts to integrate business and technology strategies particularly in the context of developing countries. Starting with consideration of the unique characteristics of technolgoy at the firm level, and using a systems analysis approach to the market structure, possible strategic mixed are determined by considering four business stratetgies—price, value, niche and green leadership—and four technology strategies—technology leader, follower, exploiter and extender. The necessary considerations for a technological capability enhancement and palusible technology strategy rogression path are also discussed for different development conditions. The analytical measures presented in this paper are focused on such important aspects as the degree of technology component sophistication, the level of technology capability advancement, the status of technology infrasturcture building, and the dynamism of technology climate, all of which could be used for investment project review and appraisal undertaken by iunternational and national development finance institutions.     

Intra‐industry Knowledge Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment in Research and Development: Evidence from China's “Silicon Valley”

This study examines a specific channel of technology diffusion from multinational enterprises to domestic firms in less developed regions: research and development (R&D) activities of multinational enterprises in the host country. Using firm‐level panel data from a Chinese science park, known as China's “Silicon Valley,” we find that the R&D stock of foreign‐owned firms has a positive effect on the productivity of domestic firms in the same industry, while the capital stock of foreign firms has no such effect. These results suggest that foreign firms' knowledge spills over within industries through their R&D activities, but not through their production activities. In addition, we find no evidence of spillovers from domestic firms or firms from Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan, suggesting that the size of knowledge spillovers is larger when the technology gap between source and recipient firms is larger.     

Institutional support for technological improvement — The case of Hungary

The technological “time warp” in which Hungary, like other Central and Eastern European countries, has found itself since the 1950s is at an end. This article concentrates on the transformation of institutional structures that support innovation and industrial technological development. First, it summarizes the types of institutions that support technological development. In a market economy, the process of generation and diffusion of innovation largely depends on the institutional and economic structure of the country. In a narrower sense, those institutions might be included in this group whose aim is wholly or in part to assist firms in experimenting with, understanding, and implementing new products and new production processes and improving quality. This article then details forms of inter-firm cooperation and highlights some empirical research findings based on three sectors — the pharmaceutical, machine tool, and car parts industries — which represent three different cases in the restructuring of Hungarian manufacturing. The main lesson of the study is that industry during its redeployment can create few demands for technology development institutes. Because of inherited structure, the accumulated knowledge of existing institutes and the supply and scattered demand of industry for technological support do not regularly coincide.     

The co-evolution of business incubation and national innovation systems in Taiwan

Incubation has already proven to be of great value in promoting small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurship activities and technological development in developed and developing countries. Incubation not only provides a diversified and integrated service for entrepreneurial ventures but also contributes upward to regional and national innovation and economic growth. Building upon the logic of co-evolution theory, this paper argues that incubation acts at the meso-level as a critical interface between macro-innovation systems and micro-business ventures. These multi-directional coupling elements in innovation ecology co-evolve to achieve collective interests and excellence, which in turn may stimulate technological development and social change. Important processes/mechanisms, including a policy kit and action, strategic networking, supportive associations, knowledge and intellectual capital management, among others, are discussed. Drawing on the national innovation system (NIS) and business incubation (BI) experience in Taiwan, we discuss the future prospects of incubation and innovation policies, including industrializing and globalizing incubation activities and virtual business incubation.     

Sources and directions of technological accumulation in France: a statistical comparison with FR Germany and the UK

Technological activities are an important determinant of national economic performance. Data on R&D and on the national origins of patenting in the USA show that, compared to those of FR Germany and the UK, French technological activities have the following characteristics: (1) a relatively high rate of growth over the past 20 years in aggregate activity; (2) concentration of technological strength in sectors dominated by state procurement and related R&D funding, rather than in “core” technologies; (3) stronger performance in fast-growing technologies in defence, electrical products and fine chemicals, than in electronics and motor vehicles; (4) a relatively stable and speialized sectoral pattern of technological strengths and weaknesses; and (5) sectoral patterns of trading strengths and weaknesses that broadly reflect those in technology. These characteristics of France's technological activities cannot be explained by their greater or lesser concentration, which is very similar to that found in both FR Germany and the UK, both in aggregate and in specific sectors. As in the other two countries, a few large firms have a major influence on national technological activities, especially in R&D-intensive sectors and automobiles. These results are on the whole consistent with the recent assessment by INSEE and CEPII of France's competitive position in international markets. However, they do show a strong Franch “niche” in technologies linked to state markets, and they do suggest certain advantages in long-term stability, rather than rapaid change, in technological priorities.     

TESTING CATCHING‐UP BETWEEN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: “GROWTH RESISTANCE” AND SOMETIMES “GROWTH TRAGEDY”

This paper provides empirical evidence that there is no convergence between the GDP per‐capita of the developing countries since 1950. Relying upon recent econometric methodologies (non‐stationary long‐memory models, wavelet models and time‐varying factor representation models), we show that the transition paths to long‐run growth (the catch‐up dynamics) are very persistent over time and non‐stationary, thereby yielding a variety of potential steady states (conditional convergence). Our findings do not support the idea according to which the developing countries share a common factor (such as technology) that eliminates per‐capita output divergence in the very long run. Instead, we conclude that growth is an idiosyncratic phenomenon that yields different forms of transitional economic performance: growth tragedy (some countries with an initial low level of per‐capita income diverge from the richest ones), growth resistance (with many countries experiencing a low speed of growth convergence), and rapid convergence.     

A framework for technology based national planning

Technology, in today's increasingly interdependent society, provides hope, values, and faith for mankind. It brings hope for bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots; it is responsible for altering economic and social values; and it is the faith upon which the world of tomorrow is being built. Thus, the relationship between technology and the development of our societies is inextricably bound in a complex manner. This paper examines the problems of achieving technology induced socioeconomic progress, as well as the limitations of current national accounting practices. To integrate technological considerations into the national development planning process better technology measurement methodologies must first be designed. Secondly, to make the integration process more organic and effective “make-some and buy-some technologies,” based on the concept of an approach to development planning and using three technology domains (importing technology, traditional technology, and exporting technology) is needed.