Comparative Technology Choice In Development

An empirical study evaluating the choice of manufacturing equipment by firms in developing nations.

Explores how British and Japanese firms have responded to globalization from a long-term perspective. Incorporates studies from the 18th century and sheds light on the impact of the institutional setting, the influence of government and entrepreneurs, and the weight of historical contingency in conditioning firm responses to globalization.

This book is the outcome of a Development Studies Association Workshop on Technology that we convened in Queen Elizabeth House in March 1980. In the 1960s and 1970s most research on technology in poor countries was directed at the question of the labour or capital intensity of production technique (sometimes described as the 'neo-classical' question). But recently, largely as a result of the findings of such research, the focus has changed quite radically. The collection of essays raises questions as much as it provides answers: but in so doing it provides a comprehensive introduction to the major new topics which are of substantial concern to those working on issues of technology and development.

This book attempts to provide a theoretical framework for answering difficult questions evoked by the concept of technology choice primarily by conducting a review of the Appropriate Technology movement and its ideas and experiments.

This book of essays, which draws on the expertise of leading textile scholars in Britain and the United States, focuses on the problem of and responses to foreign competition in textiles from the late nineteenth century to the present day. A short introductory essay by the editor is followed by a survey of the debates surrounding the British cotton industry, foreign competition and competitive advantage. The other essays consider various aspects of that competition, including textile machine-making, Lancashire perceptions of the rise of Japan during the inter-war period and responses to foreign competition in the British cotton industry since 1945, whilst others deal with the decline and rise of merchanting in UK textiles and European competition in woollen yarn and cloth from 1870 to 1914. A recurring theme in a number of the essays is Japanese competitive advantage in textiles. The book is unique since although there are numerous books dealing with the problems of British staple industries, none focuses primarily on the issue of competition, its sources and responses, nor on textiles in general rather than a single industry. Moreover, since the scope is international rather than limited only to the UK, it follows recent trends in British busines history away from single company case studies towards a more thematic, comparative approach. In addition, the international authorship of these papers gives this book, first published in 1991, wide appeal.

Technology for Underdeveloped Areas: An Annotated Bibliography focuses on the functional aspects of technology, including the economic criteria of choice, the institutional requisite for transmittal, and the cultural constraints upon proficiency. This book discusses the relevant concepts, provides specific examples of products and systems required by developing economies, and indicates organizational approaches to adapting advantageous technology. Organized into five parts, this book starts with an overview of the most comprehensive statements on the criteria of choice for developing economies. This text then examines the concept of scarcity, which is essential to questions of technological optima in the areas of investment returns, trade specializations, and growth rates. Other chapters consider the general problems encountered by developing economies in the world. This book discusses as well the changes in corporate and economic policies to enhance technological efficiency. The final chapter analyzes the difficulties encountered by international corporations trying to transplant industrial techniques. Social scientists, economists, and engineers will find this book useful.