Most discussions of U.S. economic competitiveness focus on the creation of new technologies, but the abundant evidence presented in this timely book indicates that the key factor underpinning U.S. competitiveness is not the development of technology itself, but the factors that influence the commercialization of technology. The importance of effective management and performance in the commercialization of new technologies reflects today's changing environment. The post-war decades of undisputed U.S. scientific and technological hegemony have been replaced by a period in which U.S. firms are challenged by foreign competitors in some fields, and struggling to regain their former positions in others. Although the U.S. scientific research establishment arguably has lost little if any of its post-war preeminence, the same cannot be said with respect to the performance of U.S. firms as developers, adapters, and managers of new technologies, largely because government policies have not been conducive to successful commercialization of technology. As we enter the last decade of the twentieth century, economic policy and performance are being linked more and more closely to technology-related issues. Technology commercialization is now recognized as critical to this linkage, and this book constitutes a state-of-the-art analysis of this vital but often overlooked aspect of technological innovation. The sixteen papers in this volume contribute to three important tasks. First, they draw on new developments in theoretical and empirical analysis to integrate the macro-and microeconomic dimensions of technological innovation and commercialization. Second, they extend and enrich the macroeconomic analysis of growth, capital formation, and international economic interactions to highlight the influences of macroeconomic variables on technology commercialization. Technology and capital investment are shown to be complementary inputs to the growth process, which means that favorable investment conditions are prerequisites for higher growth rates. Third, they also extend and enrich the microeconomic analysis of technological innovation and commercialization, in the process providing guidance for managers seeking to improve performance in both of the areas.

"The object of this book is to explore the ways by which modern science and technology can help to promote economic and social growth in the poor but developing countries" -- Introduction.

Science, Technology, Innovation, and Economic Growth in Arab Countries explores fresh approaches to STI policy formulation and implementation in the region, with applications to developing countries elsewhere. Developing useful contexts for studying Arab policies about science, technology, and innovation requires trustworthy data and judgment. Omar Bizri brings together both in this book. Data from sources such as the World Bank, UNESCO, the International Telecommunication Union, Nature, Science and recent surveys and policy formulation initiatives anchor this study among national initiatives that focus on essential needs, including safe water and food production, renewable energy utilization, and job and enterprise creation. For those eager to understand the challenges of STI capacity building, this book explores the many connections between technological change and economic growth. Presents and analyzes data about past, current and proposed efforts aimed at STI capacity building in Arab countries Emphasizes demand-driven policies for promoting rapid infrastructure and endogenous STI capacity building, as well as job creation Explores ways to enhance STI capacity building efforts through community-based and national initiatives Includes data from sources such as the World Bank, UNESCO, the International Telecommunication Union, Nature, Science and recent surveys

The innovation systems (IS) approach emerged as a theoretical framework in the industrialized world in the mid-1990s to explain innovation and growth in the developed world. This Handbook is the first attempt to adapt the IS approach to developing countries from a theoretical and empirical viewpoint. The Handbook brings eminent scholars in economics, innovation and development studies together with promising young researchers to review the literature and push theoretical boundaries. They critically review the IS approach and its adequacy for developing countries, discuss the relationship between IS and development, and address the question of how it should be adapted to the realities of developing nations. Spanning national, sectoral and regional innovation systems across Asia, Latin America and Africa, and written by the world s leading scholars within the field, this comprehensive Handbook will strongly appeal to academics, researchers and students with an interest in innovation and technology in developing countries.

ILO pub-WEP pub. Monograph on the appropriate choice of technology to satisfy basic needs in the economic development of developing countries - proposes use of local level technology rather than technology transfer, discusses the role of research and development, extension services, etc., and refers to the need for education and training of technicians and trainers, and to the role of ILO, etc., and includes a directory of development centres dealing mainly with small-scale and rural area technologies. References.

This volume explores how a number of developing countries -- including India, Malaysia, Columbia, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia -- are responding to the pressures of the information society. Infrastructural development, policies, and social systems are investigated, and models of information technologies and society are proposed in order to better reference the differences and similarities among the nations profiled. The authors identify the social technology perspective via the assimilation of technology in lifestyles and social systems. From this perspective, the diffusion of technologies is analyzed with a critical eye for theories of culture lag, diffusion and innovation, and technological determinism and liberalism. The social perspective is a new addition to development studies, and the reader may see how, as the global information society comes into focus, the social dimensions are more important than some theorists originally envisioned.