Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on `Human Resources and Leadership for Technology Transfer between NATO Countries and Cooperation Partner Countries', Ankara, Turkey, July 18-21, 1994

Monograph on multinational enterprise experience in technology transfer from the USA to Eastern Europe - discusses economic relations and trade relations, and presents eight case studies in the industrial sector concerning Poland and Romania. Bibliography pp. 121 to 130, references, and statistical tables.

Western efforts to control trade and technological relations with communist countries affect many interests and political groups in both Eastern and Western blocs. Although there is general agreement within the Western alliance that government-imposed controls are necessary to prevent material having military importance from falling in the hands of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, there is considerable controversy over the specifics: the exact definition of "militarily significant" material, how the Western nations should administer controls, the implications of glasnost, and other matters.

Foreign subsidiaries of multinational companies are suggested as one of the main channels of technology transfer to less developed economies. In Central East Europe their presence proved to be a decisive factor to economic restructuring and development. This volume is a unique guide to theory, method of research, and empirical evidence, for technology transfer via foreign subsidiaries of multinational companies. It combines the merits of a core text on technology transfer via FDI with up-to-date empirical evidence.

This is the first empirical study to compare and contrast the effects of technology transfer to developing countries from the West and from Eastern European countries. The author's primary purpose is to compare the effects of the different technologies offered by the two groups--the capital-intensive technologies of the West and the labor-intensive technologies of the Eastern bloc--on the economic growth of developing countries, as measured by growth in output. Using an analytical method based on the production-input structure, the author is able to quantify the impact on economic growth of technology transfer from different sources and with different characteristics. Karake also evaluates the experience of developing countries in importing technologies and identifies the direction, pattern, and content of those technologies. Scholars in international and economic development will find Karake's work an important contribution to the documented information concerning the trade in technology and its relation to economic growth and technological interdependence. Following an introductory chapter, Karake offers a general discussion of the relationships among development, growth, and technology. She then introduces the econometric time-series models and describes the basic study structure. The next section examines policies, mechanisms, and trends in technology transfer in both the West and the East, focusing on such issues as the factors and policies which affect technology transfer to the Middle East and patterns of technological exports. A chapter devoted to model formulation, empirical analysis, estimation, and results specifies the empirical models used in the study and presents statistical analysis of the appropriate data. Finally, Karake summarizes the major research findings, suggests avenues for further research, and assesses the future of technology transfer activity. Four appendices containing important supplemental information and a bibliography complete the study.