| Abstract: | A questionnaire-survey, based on notions of external dependence and passive receipt of technology, was addressed to a group of technical and development experts to investigate why the manufacturing technologies applied in the LIC's are considered inappropriate for their resources and conditions. The results are preliminary and cannot be statistically validated, but constitute suggestive and important evidence which raises serious doubts on the validity of conventional wisdom in this field. There are strong indications that LIC's are not generally mere passive recipients of technologies developed in IC's—many instances of technological development carried out in some of these countries were reported and the imported technologies are usually adapted to local conditions. The “inappropriateness” of some industrial technologies was due to factors such as: (a) Inadequate response to market requirements; (b) failure to use and/or adapt to the local supply of materials; (c) failure to adapt to a smaller scale of production; (d) insufficient use of labor due to price distortions and other restrictions; (e) import of unsuitable machinery; (f) selection of unsuitable technology due to restrictions on the acquisition of technology. |
