Only since the 1970s have the East European Socialist countries (known collectively as Comecon) participated in the international exchange of technology as exporters. In this book, Drs. Monkiewicz and Maciejewicz analyze the technology export performance of the Comecon countries. They begin by defining the nature of technology as a commodity, analyzing the structural characteristics of the international market, and outlining both the cost and benefits of technology export. Later chapters provide an overview of Comecon technological policies in the 1970s, with particular attention to the export-import factor and Comecon regional technological cooperation. In-depth analysis is presented through case studies of the experiences of Poland and Czechoslovakia. The book concludes with a discussion of the implications of technology export by socialist countries, particularly its potential impact on existing global patterns of technological dependence and domination.

This book assesses under what conditions and to what extent international technology transfer may contribute to technology gap closure in overall industrial activity. It is of particular interest for all developing countries as well as for the socialist countries of Eastern Europe.

Originally published in 1985, in the deteriorating climate of East-West relations technology transfer became vitally important. The Eastern bloc desperately needed Western technology to assist in the development of the socialist economies, but a proposed US ban on the export of Western technology to the Siberian pipeline project led to increasing tension within the Western alliance abot the nature and scale of high technology that could be safely exported to the East. This book reviews the state of technology transfer to the East in the 1980s and considers the place of Western technology in the Eastern economies. It also discusses the strategic goals of Western technology embargoes. Many of the issues discussed remain pertinent today.